


I Never Know What People Want

by with_bleeding_hands



Category: The Incredibles (2004)
Genre: Bisexual Helen Parr, Dubious Consent Due to Hypnosis, F/F, Gentle Sex, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Morning Sex, My First Work in This Fandom, Overcaffeinated Disaster Lesbian Evelyn Deavor, Period-Typical Homophobia, Polyamory, Psychiatric Abuse, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-06-05 01:47:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 45,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15159743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/with_bleeding_hands/pseuds/with_bleeding_hands
Summary: Helen provides Evelyn with some crucial information about what happened to her father, and learns something disquieting about what happened while she was hypnotized. This is a Hevelyn fic, I believe it's called.MAJOR SPOILERS for The Incredibles 2.I can’t believe I have to say this, but giving unsolicited criticism on fanfiction is rude and inappropriate. If you do it, I’ll just delete it. I also really hate how this turned out (in fact, I'm probably going to rewrite a "director's cut" of it) so please don’t make me feel worse.





	1. I Never Know What People Want

**Author's Note:**

> Note about the dubcon warning: nobody gets harmed or traumatized by the event that required me to use that tag. (Er. Not by the event itself. The fallout, however...)
> 
> Anyway, here’s some Hevelyn. (With Bob/Helen in the background, because they're one of my few M/F ships.)

“You know what I still don’t understand?” Helen mused, gazing at the rain streaming down the massive panes of the windows in the Parrs’ current residence, another loan from Winston Deavor. If Winston had his way, it would end up belonging to them. Helen still wasn’t sure about it. Violet had remarked that it was even less homey than the previous place Winston had let them stay, and Helen was tempted to agree. It seemed more like a villain’s lair than the kind of place she and Bob would have chosen to raise their family.

“What is it, honey?” Bob looked up from his newspaper.

“Evelyn Deavor,” said Helen, not taking her eyes off the rivulets of water snaking down the window. The rain didn’t look like it was letting up. Evelyn Deavor was currently on house arrest, in another Deavor house not far away. She was probably watching the same rain. “She and her brother had such different reactions to her father’s death. What made her blame supers and him blame supers being forced underground?”

“You know, now that I think about it, it wasn’t even that supers were forced underground,” said Bob, putting down his newspaper. His brow furrowed as he searched his memory. “After Winston pitched his superhero advocacy project to us, I looked up his father’s death. Norman Deavor was killed longer after the relocation act than I thought from Win’s story.”

“Huh. Really?” Helen turned her attention fully to her husband. “When was it?”

Bob’s eyes widened as his epiphany struck. “Helen…it was after Syndrome started testing his Omnidroid. It was after he murdered Gazerbeam, and I’m pretty sure it was after he murdered Fironic, too!”

Helen leapt to her feet. “Norman Deavor didn’t die because of the Superhero Relocation Program! He died because there was no one to answer his phones!” She reached for her jacket, which was draped over a nearby chair. She mentally kicked herself for not setting an example of neatness for her children as she shrugged it on. “I have to tell Evelyn.”

“Wait, what?” Bob stood, tossing the newspaper and his reading glasses onto the kitchen table. “You’re going to go see a supervillain? Alone?”

“She’s on house arrest, and I don’t care that they ‘confiscated everything’ she could use to build some useful gadget,” said Helen, rifling through her purse to make sure she had everything she would need. “She’s smart. She’s going to escape soon, but maybe she’ll think twice about going after supers again if she knows the truth.”

“Hang on,” said Bob, reaching for his own jacket, which was strewn over the table; he hadn’t even bothered with a chair earlier. Helen reminded herself to be annoyed later. “I should go with you.”

Helen held up a hand. “Evelyn and I had…a rapport of sorts, or at least I thought we did. Anyway, if we both go, she’ll probably think we’re ganging up on her. I think she’s more likely to believe me if I go alone.”

Bob opened his mouth to object, but then sighed resignedly. “Okay, honey. Drive safe.”

-

Helen found herself missing the Elasticycle that Evelyn Deavor had made for her as she pulled the family car up to the front of the (comparatively) modest abode where Evelyn was currently staying. There was nothing like zooming along the road with the wind whipping through your hair, so much more responsive and quick and agile than a stodgy four-wheeled car. The motorcycle Evelyn had built had been a beautiful machine. Helen had been genuinely sorry to have to wreck it.

Helen locked the car and trudged up the front walk. The house was the smallest of the Deavors’ residences—the easiest to strip of any technology that Evelyn might use for inventing, Helen supposed—but it was at least three, maybe four times as big as the Parrs’ last house before they had been set up in Chez Deavor, as Helen had taken to calling it. It felt more like a lair than a home, and she couldn’t help but still attach Winston’s name to it.

Helen rang the doorbell, bracing herself for what would probably be a bitter tirade from Evelyn or worse. At the very least, she tried to prepare herself for the question “What the hell (or, possibly, fuck) are you doing here?”

What she didn’t expect was for a cranky, unkempt-looking Evelyn wearing loose silk pajama pants, a camisole, and an open bathrobe to open the door and, instead of scowling or snapping, carefully look Helen up and down. “Don’t you look adorable today,” Evelyn drawled. “No super suit, I see. I was hoping you’d wear the one I liked.”

Helen instinctively looked down at herself. She was wearing light blue slacks and a dark gray button-down shirt with the sleeves cuffed; not a particularly striking ensemble. She decided that Evelyn had chosen to make fun of her rather than curse her name. “Can I come in?” Helen asked curtly.

“I think you know the answer to that,” said Evelyn—another baffling response—swinging the door open wider. Helen walked in and watched as Evelyn walked from the entryway into what appeared to be a rather luxurious sitting room and plopped herself down on one of the couches. Helen followed her, trying to figure out what to say as Evelyn reached for a coffee mug on a nearby end table and drained its contents.

“Uh,” Helen started. She mentally winced. “There’s something we should talk about.” 

Evelyn put down the mug and smirked. Helen remembered having seen that expression through the wall of a sub-zero transparent cell and a chill ran up her spine, but then Evelyn’s smirk softened into a smile. A tiny one, but a smile nonetheless. “So you remembered it, then?” Evelyn asked. “Or were you sore afterward and you figured out what happened?”

Helen’s brow knitted as she tried to make sense of those remarks. “Sore? Because I tried to stretch in air that was too cold?”

“I guess you need a reminder.” Evelyn pointed a remote control at a television set that Helen hadn’t noticed; it was a small, old one, probably the least advanced possible so Evelyn could get the least use out of its components. “I’m a little surprised you don’t remember. I always knew you were strong-willed, but even I was surprised at what you did while hypnotized. It’d make a damn interesting paper if I could still publish, but I don’t have sufficient data.” Evelyn sighed wistfully, the sound of a scientist cut off from the lifeblood of academia that was publishing papers.

Still fully befuddled, Helen turned her attention to the screen. She felt her skin crawl as she recognized herself, wearing those damn hypno-goggles, walking into Evelyn’s lab. The Evelyn on the screen was standing in front of what looked like a blueprint, poring over it with a ruler and pencil. “There you are,” said the Evelyn on the tape, sounding more than a little distracted and not looking up. “Your suit didn’t respond well to extreme cold. I want you to be as protected from the elements as possible while helping me keep supers illegal, especially if you go up against Frozone. You’ll need a new suit…you’ll have to get rid of the Gehlbach one.”

Helen’s eyes widened as she watched her recorded counterpart take Evelyn’s instructions too literally, stripping off the Gehlbach suit and tossing it aside. “I never liked this suit,” said the Helen on the screen, a slightly robotic quality to her voice.

The screen-Evelyn chuckled, still not looking up. “I always liked your first suit; the one you wore back when you had the Mohawk. The one with the muted red accents.” Her voice grew slightly distant. “I’ll have to make sure you look just as appealing in your next suit as you did in that one.”

“Yes, Evelyn,” said the screen-Helen.

The disheveled Evelyn watching the tape gave another dreamy sigh. Helen cut her eyes at the other woman, who was gazing longingly at the TV. “Evelyn, what the hell—?”

“You’re going to want to watch this part,” said Evelyn, sounding like she was holding back a chuckle.

Helen did, and her mouth fell open as she watched her screen-self walk to the busy, distracted Evelyn and slip her arms around her. The screen-Evelyn startled at first, but then turned around in the screen-Helen’s loose embrace and cupped Helen’s chin in one hand, placing the other hand possessively on Helen’s lower back. “So,” the screen-Evelyn breathed. “What I was hoping would happen the night you met those wannabe supers is going to happen now. I had it all planned out, you know. Get your inhibitions lowered enough to admit you didn’t shave most of your head and ride a motorcycle and learn to maintain it yourself because you only liked men. But it was hypnosis, not alcohol, that did the trick, it seems.” She paused. “Do you want me, Elastigirl?”

“Yes, Evelyn,” said the Helen on the tape, tilting her head up and kissing the screen-Evelyn hard.

“Stop it!” yelled Helen, launching herself to her feet. “Turn it off!”

Startled, Evelyn did. “Hey, your husband doesn’t have to know.”

What Bob might think of what was on that tape wasn’t quite at the forefront of Helen’s mind at the moment, so she ignored that comment. “You asked if I was ‘sore’. My superpower is _stretching_. What the _hell_ did you do to me!?”

Evelyn blinked in surprise. “I didn’t want to hurt you. Hang on…” She fast-forwarded a few minutes. “Look.”

Helen looked. Her recorded self was with Evelyn on a small cot in Evelyn’s lab—presumably where she slept when she couldn’t be bothered to shamble to her room after long hours of work—and Helen thought that both figures on the tape were naked, but it was hard to tell. The screen-Evelyn was in the screen-Helen’s lap, and Helen’s arms were wrapped multiple times around Evelyn’s body. Evelyn’s head was tilted back, her lips parted and her eyes closed, as Helen nuzzled and kissed her throat. “Oh, god, Elastigirl…Helen…you feel so good,” the screen-Evelyn moaned.

Helen frowned. She was more than familiar with the creepy male supervillain who wouldn’t hesitate to take sexual advantage of a female super if he had her under his control. But while the Helen on the screen was wearing hypno-goggles, the Evelyn Deavor on the screen didn’t appear to be in control either. The Evelyn on the tape was overwhelmed with desire; the only thing on her mind was lust, not advantage or power.

“So, how flexible are you?” the screen-Evelyn asked breathlessly.

“What do you mean?” asked the screen-Helen, and Helen flinched at the mechanical, unfamiliar sound of her own voice.

“I mean…” The Evelyn on the tape took Helen’s chin in her hand again. “Could you take my whole fist if you used your powers?”

“You have small hands,” the hypnotized Helen replied. “I could do that without my powers.”

“We’ll see,” said the screen-Evelyn, leaning in to kiss her soon-to-be bed partner.

Evelyn paused the tape. “I kept asking you if it hurt, and you always said ‘no’.” Evelyn’s small smile resurfaced. “I didn’t intend for the hypnosis to keep you from feeling pain, but I was a bit concerned about that. Then again, I think you cheated and used your powers a little.” Evelyn sighed. “Doesn’t matter, though. You were exquisite.”

The word “cheated” knocked something loose in Helen’s brain, and Evelyn’s comment about Bob not having to know about the contents of the tape suddenly meant something crucial. “So what am I missing?” Helen snapped. “Where on that tape did I say I was okay with cheating on my husband of fifteen years?”

Evelyn tilted her head to the side. “He’s a _guy_ , Helen.”

“He’s the man I chose to spend the rest of my life with! He’s the father of my children!” Helen shouted. She could feel her spine and neck elongating, and she loomed over Evelyn, whose expression flitted across several different emotions in quick succession. “I never would have…done anything with you without talking it over with Bob first!”

Evelyn’s grip went slack on the remote control; it clattered to the ground, forgotten. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” Helen yelled, “that I never agreed to _that_!” She jabbed a finger at the television. “It wasn’t my will asserting itself or whatever you said it was. You wanted what happened on that tape, and I didn’t. It only happened because I was hypnotized.”

What little color there was in Evelyn’s pale face drained from it, and she slid to the floor. “No,” she whispered, her hands scrabbling on the floor as if she could find her grip on reality in the carpet.

Helen shrank back to her normal size, but she wasn’t done hollering. “What’s wrong? You tried to kill me. Now you’re feeling guilty that you made me cheat on my husband?”

Evelyn didn’t appear to have heard Helen. She grabbed the coffee mug and flung it at the wall with a wordless, anguished shriek. Acting on instinct alone, Helen reached out and snatched it out of the air. She replaced it on the end table, peering curiously at Evelyn, who was curled into a ball with her hands pressed to her face. “I thought…” Evelyn shook her head. “I thought you wanted…”

Helen sat down on the floor besides Evelyn. “Okay, I guess I can see why you might have thought that.”

“I should have known,” Evelyn hissed. “I never know what people want.” She slammed her fist into the floor, and Helen’s eyes widened as she heard the sickening _crack_ of at least one bone in Evelyn’s hand giving way.

“Evelyn!”

“So if you didn’t know about…” Evelyn failed to finish that thought. “What are you doing here?” 

“I wanted to tell you something about why your father died.”

Evelyn’s head snapped up, and she glared at Helen through her tears. “What could you possibly tell me that I don’t already know? Or did you just come here to open an old wound of mine and watch the blood spill? I didn’t think you were the gloating type.”

“Do you know who Syndrome is?” Helen asked, and Evelyn frowned.

“Yeah…most of the information about him—or at least how he was stopped—was suppressed, but he was responsible for that massive robot that attacked downtown Metroville.” Evelyn paused. “That massive, _tacky_ robot. What does that have to do with my father? Syndrome was apprehended only a few months ago.”

“But he was active long before that,” said Helen. “He was something of a prodigy with robotics. That robot that attacked Metroville was something like the tenth version. It had gone through a lot of revisions…and killed almost every super that Bob and I knew from the old days.”

Comprehension crossed Evelyn’s face. “That’s why Win and I could only find young supers to motivate you.”

“It had been longer after the relocation act than your brother remembered when your father was killed,” said Helen, trying to soften her voice as if that could make her words less crushing. “It had been long enough for Syndrome to build his robot. It had been long enough for him to kill Gazerbeam and Fironic.”

Evelyn’s eyes closed. “No,” she whispered.

“If either of them had still been alive, they could have saved your father,” Helen finished.

“No.” Evelyn’s voice rose to a fever pitch. “No, no, no, no, no!” She launched herself at Helen, kicking and clawing. “Why would you tell me that? Why would you _tell_ me that!?”

Evelyn wasn’t even trying to use any actual martial arts techniques; Helen quickly wrestled her into a hold that she hoped wasn’t hurting Evelyn’s broken hand. “It’s okay,” Helen soothed.

“It’s not okay! It is not anything even remotely like okay!” Evelyn wept. “Let me go!”

Helen let go, and Evelyn collapsed onto the floor in a sobbing heap.

“Any other knives you want to stick in before I tell you to get the fuck out of my house?” Evelyn’s voice was a harsh, strained whisper.

“I’ll call you an ambulance,” said Helen, standing. “You need medical attention.”

“What do you care?” Evelyn demanded.

“I heard your hand break,” Helen replied. “Where’s the nearest phone?”

“Fuck you.”

“From the looks of that tape, I think you already did that,” Helen muttered, casting a glance at the stricken woman over her shoulder as she set about searching Evelyn’s home for a telephone. As it turned out, there was one in the next room, and Helen kept an eye on Evelyn, who was sitting with her face pressed to her knees, while she was on the phone. When her calls were finished, she went to sit on the floor with Evelyn.

“I called the local hospital. And the precinct,” Helen reported. “You’ll probably need a police escort to the emergency room.”

“Dandy,” Evelyn deadpanned. “Why are you doing this? Why are you doing any of this?” 

“I thought it was important that you know the truth about why your father died.” Helen reached for Evelyn’s shoulder; Evelyn jerked away.

“Why? You thought you could bring me over to the ‘superheroes are wonderful’ side with that…that little tidbit?” Evelyn sniffed. “So you could change one of my core beliefs? Oh, right, you think I don’t have any of those.”

“You just have things you hate,” Helen pointed out.

“Like you,” Evelyn spat.

Helen had an answer ready. “Oh, so you usually sleep with people you hate?” She quirked an eyebrow.

Evelyn didn’t have anything to say to that. She was silent until the ambulance arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I will explain why Evelyn freaked all the way out when Helen confronted her about the contents of the Hevelyn sex tape instead of waving it off like you might expect a supervillainess to do.
> 
> Also, man am I not used to writing chapters this short, but I really wanted to start posting. Next chapter will have Bob's reaction to the events of this chapter and other fallout. Including Helen trying to puzzle out exactly how she feels about all this.


	2. Nobody Wants to Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evelyn lands herself in the hospital and Helen visits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you didn't see the tag, HERE THERE BE DISCUSSION OF A SUICIDE ATTEMPT. YE HATH BEEN WARNED.

The Parr children were back from school by the time Helen arrived home. Bob was too busy helping Dash with New Math for Life to notice that Helen was much quieter than usual, but the fact that Helen also spent an unusually long time tracking Jack-Jack through the fourth dimension and then extinguishing the baby’s flames was also likely a factor. By the time the kids were all asleep (Jack-Jack went down at 11:15, which was blessedly early for him), Helen was both dreading talking to Bob about what had happened at Evelyn Deavor’s place and wanting desperately to get it over with.

“So, how was the Screenslaver?” Bob asked as they climbed into bed.

Helen swallowed hard. “Not good. She was pretty shaken when she found out the truth about her father’s death. But I found out something else that you need to know.” She took a deep breath. “While I was hypnotized, Evelyn Deavor made me have sex with her.”

Bob grabbed Helen’s hand. “Wait, she made you…?” Helen actually flinched as she watched what could only be described as a dark cloud passing over her husband’s face. She had never seen such unbridled fury in his expression. “I’m going to _kill_ her,” said Bob in a voice that was almost a growl.

“It wasn’t like that,” Helen insisted, trying to extricate her hand from Bob’s grip and only succeeding because of her stretching ability. “She thought I was okay with it. I think what happened was I picked up on her…uh…wanting me while I was under hypnosis. She told me she thought that it was a combination of my will asserting itself and my inhibitions being lowered because of the hypnosis…or something. I believed her.”

“She’s a supervillain! Why should you believe her?” Bob demanded.

“Because she was so upset to find out that she was wrong that she broke her own hand,” said Helen softly.

Bob’s grip loosened. “She broke her own hand?”

“By slamming it into the floor. I don’t know why she was so upset—I mean, for a while there, I thought she didn’t have a conscience—but maybe she does.” Helen sighed.

Bob moved closer and put an arm around Helen; she leaned against him. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Helen was silent for a long time. “I don’t know. I don’t feel like I was…violated, or anything. When I saw the tape—“

“She _taped_ it!?”

“I think she tapes everything that’s part of her work, and it happened in her lab…she was probably taping for research purposes. She was kind of surprised by the whole thing when it happened.” Helen closed her eyes tightly. “After I figured out that she hadn’t…physically hurt me, the thing I was most upset about was being unfaithful to you.” Helen curled in on herself, not unlike Evelyn had done after Helen had told her the truth about why her father died. “I feel like I should apologize.”

Bob heard his wife’s voice trembling and held her close. “It wasn’t your fault,” he said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. “I know it wasn’t your fault.”

Helen laid her head against Bob’s shoulder. “I guess I’m just…scared that Evelyn was right,” she said in a small voice. “That it was my will asserting myself, even though part of me knows I’d never be unfaithful to you.”

Bob didn’t reply for a long moment. “I never thought I’d say anything like this, but I’d rather you cheated twenty times than were r…ra…” Bob’s voice became choked and he failed to get the last word out.

Helen leaned back from their embrace and lay down, staring at the ceiling. “I’d almost rather she had raped me,” she said, and Bob winced at Helen’s choice of words. “Then maybe I wouldn’t feel so _disloyal_. I mean…it’s not like I didn’t think about it. With Evelyn.”

“Wait, what?” Helen expected Bob to be angry, but she heard nothing in his voice but bafflement.

“I told myself for years that since I liked men, I only liked men.” Helen closed her eyes tightly. “I did a good job convincing myself. But then when I was talking to Evelyn the night she and Winston introduced me to all those young supers…I don’t know…I felt this…connection. I kept telling myself that I was just glad to talk to someone who understood what being a woman in a male-dominated field was like.”

“’Male-dominated field’?” Bob repeated, but he cut himself off before he could get the last syllable out. “Why didn’t you tell me this when I told you about Katherine?”

Helen chewed her lower lip. Katherine Parr was Bob’s older sister. She had come out to her family as a lesbian when she was 17 and Bob was 13, and her parents had responded by promptly throwing her out. It had never sat right with Bob, who had tried to contact his sister and even hired private investigators to try to find her once he moved out of his parents’ house at 18, but had had no luck.

“I don’t know,” Helen mumbled. “Maybe I still had myself convinced that I’m not…” She almost didn’t want to say it. Saying it would make it real.

Bob took her hand and squeezed lightly (lightly for him, anyway). “I still love you.”

“Bob, I think I’m bisexual,” Helen whispered. “And I think I feel something for a supervillain who had sex with me that I’m not sure I wanted while I was hypnotized, and I feel like I cheated on my husband, who I promised to be with as long as we both shall live.”

Bob gathered Helen into his arms again, and Helen broke down and let herself cry.

-

The call came two days later. Helen was washing dishes and watching the road out front for the kids’ school bus, and Bob had just come inside from a workout. When the phone rang, Helen dried her hands off and picked it up on the third ring. “Parr residence, although you could technically call it a Deavor residence.” 

“Am I speaking to Helen Parr?” asked an unfamiliar female voice.

“Yes,” said Helen. “Who’s calling, please?”

“Mrs. Parr, my name is Linda Edwards, and I’m a nurse at St. Peregrine’s Hospital in Municiberg County. I work in the psychiatric unit. We have an Evelyn Deavor here asking for you.”

The words “Is she all right?” fell off of Helen’s tongue before she could formulate any other response.

“Despite her best efforts, she is,” replied Linda, and Helen heard Evelyn’s sardonic voice in the background.

“That’s _really_ professional.”

“Evelyn? Is that you?” Helen felt a terrible sensation that could only be described as having a fist tightly gripping her heart.

“Yeah, it’s me,” said Evelyn, sounding this time as if she were speaking directly into the receiver. “Guess I can’t even commit suicide right.”

Helen sank to her knees. “Evelyn, I…”

“Don’t try to say anything. There’s nothing you can say. But visiting hours are tomorrow from two to five, if you want to come enjoy my suffering. You seem to like that.”

Helen leaned against the kitchen cabinets, at a loss for words. By the time she managed to form words, Evelyn had hung up.

Bob came into the kitchen, wiping his face with a towel. “Helen? What’s the matter?”

Helen managed to get to her feet. “Evelyn Deavor just tried to kill herself.”

“What? How?”

“I don’t know.” It took several tries for Helen to hang up the phone. “But she just called from the hospital. She told me when visiting hours are in case I wanted to ‘come enjoy her suffering,’ which I think is her way of saying she wants to see me.” A thought struck Helen. “I should call her brother.”

“I have to shower, but I’ll be right out.” Bob walked over and gave Helen a quick kiss before heading to one of the house’s numerous bathrooms. Helen had noticed that Bob hadn’t taken a quick shower since they had moved in to the place and suspected it had something to do with the luxuriant nature of the bathrooms, so she wasn’t sure about the veracity of that statement, but she turned her attention to dialing Winston’s number. He didn’t answer until after the fifth ring.

“Winston? Hi, it’s Elastigirl.”

“Oh…hello,” said Winston, his voice throaty and weak. “Elastigirl, usually I’d be ecstatic to hear from you, but this isn’t a good time.”

“I heard about Evelyn,” Helen murmured. “Winston, I’m sorry.”

“Why didn’t she talk to me?” He sounded anguished. “I know what she did to try to keep superheroes illegal, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love her.”

Helen thought back to when Evelyn had tried to escape with Winston after her evil plan went awry. “Maybe she was trying to protect you.”

“Protect me? From what?”

“From the truth about your father’s death,” Helen sighed, and then proceeded to tell Winston the same thing she had told Evelyn about Syndrome and the deaths of Gazerbeam and Fironic. Where Evelyn had broken down loudly, Winston’s response was stunned silence.

“I’m sorry I told her about that,” said Helen. “It really shook her. I was hoping it would bring her over to the right side…”

“I don’t blame you,” said Winston heavily. “But I really, really don’t feel like talking anymore. I’m going to go see if the hospital will let me see Evelyn now.”

Helen almost reminded him of the visiting hours, but money opened a lot of doors. “Okay. Take care of yourself.”

“You too.”

Helen hung up the phone and managed to walk to the couch before collapsing. When Bob emerged from the bathroom, toweling off his hair, he found his wife lying on the couch, pale and shaking. “Helen?”

“Bob, this is my fault,” Helen whispered. “Visiting hours are tomorrow. I have to go.”

“You don’t _have_ to do anything, especially for Evelyn Deavor,” Bob countered.

Helen let out a long breath. “I’ve been responsible for villain casualties before, but this is different. I don’t want anyone’s death on my conscience.” She paused. “I feel bad, Bob. I feel guilty. And part of me wants to know if she feels guilty too…about what happened when I was hypnotized.”

“She’d better,” Bob grumbled. “Helen, do you still…uh…”

“I don’t know,” said Helen, anticipating what Bob was going to say. “I did feel a connection with her, but I’m not sure if that was really her or just a front she was putting on. But regardless, she tried to kill herself and wants me to visit her in the hospital. If I really am responsible for her being there—and I’m pretty sure I am—I should go.”

Bob was quiet for a long moment. “I don’t like this.”

“Look, I don’t trust her either,” said Helen. “But it’s a locked ward, and she won’t have access to any of her technology.”

“And what will you do if she tries to kiss you?”

Helen rubbed her hands briskly over her face. “I’m not entirely sure, but it’s going to involve demanding an apology for her trying to kill me first.”

“I feel like I should have a problem with that,” said Bob heavily. “But I don’t. Maybe I’m too tired from Jack-Jack keeping me awake to feel things.”

“Could be because Evelyn’s a woman,” Helen suggested.

“Could be.” Bob sat down on the couch beside Helen. “Just…be careful, honey.”

-

Helen expected the psychiatric wing to be grimy and run-down the way it looked in movies, but it was clean and Spartan in the usual way of hospitals. Evelyn’s room was small, neat, and very white, and she looked like an ink stain on snow sitting slouched and cross-legged on her unmade bed. Helen had thought that Evelyn’s hair looked unkempt before; now it was sticking every which way in a manner that reminded Helen of an electrocuted porcupine, and she was dressed in loose black trousers and a black blouse that somehow managed to be different shades of black. Her broken hand was in a white plaster cast, and apparently she had had trouble with the buttons on her blouse, as they were done up unevenly. She was paler than usual, and her eyes were sunken. Helen thought she looked terrible, and couldn’t help but think that Bob would say she looked like crap. 

Evelyn’s face betrayed nothing as she watched Helen walk into her room, and when she said “You’re here”, her voice was flat and featureless.

“I’m here,” Helen agreed. There were no chairs in the room, so Helen sat down on the corner of the bed.

“You’re probably curious as to how I did it,” said Evelyn dully. “It’s actually pretty hard to kill yourself with limited use of one hand. I couldn’t tie a plastic bag over my head because I couldn’t get the knot right with only one of my hands working. They won’t allow me access to a vehicle, so I couldn’t close the garage and let the car run. I have a gas stove, though, so I closed all the doors and windows and turned on the gas. Hypoxia; not a bad way to go, right?”

Helen flinched, but Evelyn continued.

“Anyway, they’ve got some kind of high-end ankle bracelet on me, so an ambulance was dispatched when my heartbeat got too slow. I passed out in my kitchen and woke up here. Not sure why they bothered.”

Evelyn’s mention of hypoxia reminded Helen of something else Evelyn had said on her escape plane. “What happened to ‘nobody wants to die’?”

“Oh, I meant that,” Evelyn sighed. “Nobody wants to _die_. But sometimes, people want to stop living.”

Helen reached for Evelyn, drew back, and then reached out again, this time placing her palm on Evelyn’s shoulder. Evelyn didn’t react, at least visibly.

“Did Winston come see you?”

“Oh, yeah. Money gets around a lot of things. Can’t get me out of here, but it can get my brother in when it’s not visiting hours. He thinks I ended up here because of what you told me about our father’s death.”

Helen’s brow creased. “That’s not why?”

“It’s a part of why,” said Evelyn. She closed her eyes. “I always felt like what I was doing was right. Now I don’t anymore. I don’t want to live with the guilt of what I did.” She swallowed hard. “What I did to you.”

Helen took that in, trying to will her heart to stop pounding. “So…when you tried to kill me, or…?”

“I wouldn’t have let you die,” said Evelyn. “If I’d wanted to kill you, I could have tossed you into one of the turbines, or just choked you. I wanted you unconscious so I could spirit you away and try to convince you to leave your family in exchange for me climbing into bed with you every night.” Evelyn chuckled in a mirthless way that was ten times more terrifying to Helen than any overblown villain’s cackle she had ever heard. “I wasn’t trying to kill anyone. People are idiots, and I knew there would be come idiot collateral damage—like that churlish Pizza Planet delivery boy—but I wanted to keep the idiots from being made weaker by superheroes.” Evelyn’s shoulders sagged. “Anyway, you kill someone, and they’re gone forever, and their death leaves a vacuum. But their suffering is over. Rape is a different kind of crime. It’s a kind of murder where nobody dies.”

Helen’s skin crawled, but she didn’t think that just following a suicide attempt was the best time to ask Evelyn how she had come to that conclusion. “Evelyn, I don’t even remember what happened that night.”

“So if I had drugged you, that would have been okay?” Evelyn’s voice was like a whip.

“No.” Helen mentally searched for the right words. “What you did to me wasn’t okay. But I certainly don’t want you to feel suicidal over it. I forgive you.”

“ _Dammit_ ,” Evelyn hissed. “Why are you like this? Why are you nice to me? Is it some kind of I-have-powers-so-I-must-be-a-friend-to-all crap? Because there are supers who commit crimes. That’s how you get supervillains.” Tears began to roll down her face.

Helen squeezed Evelyn’s shoulder. “Well, it isn’t because your brother knows my theme song—I hate that cheesy thing—but the bike was pretty nice.”

Evelyn sniffed. “It was fun to design.”

“I wish you could make me another one.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Helen elongated one arm to reach for a box of tissues on the bedside table and handed the box to Evelyn, who wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Elasti—Helen, I’m sorry.”

Evelyn reached for another tissue, but her hand was trembling and she missed. Helen hesitated before deciding exactly how to help, then wrapped her arms tightly around Evelyn and pulled the other woman close so she was draped sideways across Helen’s lap. Evelyn leaned against Helen’s shoulder as Helen took the used tissue from her hand, reached across the room to drop it into the trash can, and handed Evelyn another tissue.

“I hate crying,” Evelyn muttered. “It makes me feel weak.”

“Having feelings isn’t weakness,” said Helen softly. “Seems like you have a lot of preconceived notions about weakness that need reevaluating.”

“And you know everything, right?” Evelyn snapped, but she made no attempt to disentangle herself from Helen.

Helen sighed. “There have been several times in my life when I had to reevaluate. And I had to reevaluate pretty big things, too. I used to think that I’d be betraying not just female superheroes but women in general if I ever had kids and stayed home with them. I ended up thinking about how my defeat of Screenslaver was too pat at least in part because Voyd asked me how I balance superhero work with the rest of my life, and I didn’t know how to answer.”

Evelyn made a noise that night have been a snicker.

“I don’t know everything. And I’m sure admitting that you don’t know everything is hard for a bright scientist like you. But…you might be right about some things. Maybe there should be some regulations in place for superheroes. Like…since we can’t be multiple places at once—unless we’re talking about my youngest son—maybe we shouldn’t have direct lines. You don’t have to give up completely because you were wrong about something. You can still impose your will on the status quo. Just maybe not so extremely this time, okay?”

Evelyn looked up at Helen with an expression that Helen had trouble reading, but it looked like it could be hope. For a moment, Helen thought Evelyn was going to kiss her, and she was still working out how she felt about that when Evelyn let her head fall back against Helen’s shoulder. Helen felt the tension go out of Evelyn’s body. It was like cradling a ragdoll.

“Are you okay?” Helen asked.

“I’m in the madhouse, or at least the madhouse ward. I’m about as far from okay as you can get.”

“Okay, stupid question.” Helen tightened her arms slightly around Evelyn. “Let me rephrase. Is this okay, or at least better than sitting on the bed by yourself?”

Evelyn didn’t reply verbally, but Helen felt her nod. Helen rested her cheek against Evelyn’s hair, and for a moment, the world was quiet for both of them.


	3. Welcome Aboard, Elastigirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helen and Evelyn's embrace is interrupted. Extremely rudely. Worse than rudely. Later, Bob has an unexpected idea, and Helen makes an important decision.

If you had asked her, Helen would not have been able to say how long she spent holding Evelyn. But when the door swung open without a knock, Helen looked up, disoriented, to see a burly male nurse with a shaved head standing in the doorway. “Uh,” she said. “Could we have a little privacy?”

“No privacy in the loony ward,” said Evelyn dully. “They check on us every fifteen minutes.”

The nurse’s complexion rapidly became mottled as he took in the sight of Helen holding Evelyn. “What’s going on here?” he demanded. Helen opened her mouth to reply, but before she could get any words out, the nurse jabbed a sausage-like finger at her. “You. Get out.”

“What? Why? Visiting hours aren’t over for another…” Helen glanced at the clock. “…hour and a half,” she countered.

Evelyn extricated herself from Helen’s embrace and stood, drawing herself up to her full height. Helen wasn’t sure if she had ever seen Evelyn with her spine completely straight before. “But if she were a man, there wouldn’t be a problem, would there?” Evelyn shouted. “You’re going to kick out a visitor for having her arms around me just because we’re both women?”

Part of Helen wanted to tell Evelyn to calm down; part of her agreed and couldn’t help but be impressed. 

“Homophobic prick!” Evelyn yelled. She shoved the nurse with her good arm, or at least tried; she might as well have shoved a prison cell wall. The nurse seized Evelyn’s wrist and hauled back to punch her in the face, but when he brought his fist forward, Helen’s arm shot out and deflected the blow. The nurse gaped at her, clearly not used to having anyone fight back.

“Trust me, if you want to restrain someone, there are better ways than punching someone fifty pounds less than you in the face,” Helen snapped. 

“Ma’am, don’t make me call security,” the male nurse threatened, scowling.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Helen insisted. “I didn’t do anything wrong, unless you count trying to comfort someone who is understandably upset.”

Still gripping Evelyn’s wrist, the male nurse reached for a red phone that was set into the wall. “This is Travers. Deavor’s dyke friend is a super; I need help—“

Helen managed not to lash out again at the slur, particularly because the nurse was still holding on to a defenseless woman with a broken hand and no martial arts training. Evelyn had no such qualms. She brought her cast-wrapped hand up and smacked the male nurse hard on the ear, yelling “Don’t fucking call her that!”

Later, Helen would tell herself that she didn’t react right away because she was trying to process the fact that Evelyn had just (very stupidly) defended her. But in what seemed like a microsecond, the burly nurse had slammed Evelyn to the floor. Evelyn’s grunt of pain was lost in the sound of Helen’s angry shriek. Helen was reaching out to try to help Evelyn when, to her surprise, Evelyn cried out, “Helen, stop!”

Helen retracted her arms, puzzled, the desperate look on Evelyn’s face staying her from further action. If she retaliated, the staff could just take it out on Evelyn, and Helen might not be allowed to visit again. Helen’s skin crawled at the thought of people who needed medical help being treated such a way. She was getting awfully tired of the sensation of her skin crawling.

“Go,” said Evelyn as the bald nurse, still keeping more of his weight than was safe on Evelyn’s back, reached into his pocket for what looked like a syringe. “Helen, just go.” The nurse uncapped the syringe and jammed it into Evelyn’s upper arm. Evelyn’s eyes closed, whether it was because she was giving up or because the drug was taking effect, Helen wasn’t sure. “He…len…” Evelyn went limp.

The male nurse slung Evelyn’s unconscious body over his shoulder and looked pointedly at Helen. “You can go now.”

Helen didn’t move. “What’s going to happen to her?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but it seems like this one needs stronger meds,” said the nurse, jostling Evelyn. Helen felt vaguely ill, but didn’t let it show.

“Visiting hours will be the same next week?” Helen asked coolly.

“Just get out of here, you rubber-band freak,” said the male nurse, turning to face the other staff members that had just shown up with a gurney and a five-point restraint harness. He carelessly let Evelyn down on the gurney, and Helen watched as the seemingly indifferent staff checked her vital signs and wheeled her away. It was only after Evelyn was out of sight that Helen even thought about exiting the ward.

She was required to visit the unit’s front desk on her way out; the attendant at the desk had confiscated anything that might potentially be used to hurt oneself, so she had taken Helen’s nail clippers and hand mirror. “Are visiting hours the same every week?” Helen asked the small, young-looking brunette nurse who returned her clippers and mirror.

“Yes, every Thursday. You were visiting Evelyn Deavor?” said the brunette nurse, reaching for a clipboard, and Helen nodded.

“Hmm,” said the nurse, flipping through several pages on her clipboard. “Look, I saw what just happened from here, and between that and what I see in her records, it’s doubtful that she’ll be in any shape to have visitors next week.”

Helen managed to keep her voice steady as she asked, “Oh, and why is that?”

“She’ll probably have to be sedated. For a while,” said the young nurse, sounding regretful.

“Okay,” said Helen as neutrally as possible. “Thank you.”

-

The following week, not only was Evelyn not able to have any visitors, she wasn’t even able to talk on the phone. The same was true the week after that.

“I don’t understand why they won’t let me see her,” Winston panicked on the phone to Helen (several times). “I’m her brother!”

“At least he doesn’t blame me,” said Helen mournfully as she hung up the phone after talking Winston down from doing something rash like trying to buy the hospital for at least the seventh time. “I do.”

“Honey, it wasn’t your fault,” said Bob, looking up from the flash cards he and Helen had been making to help Dash study for a history test.

“I should have known,” Helen sighed, sliding into a chair at the kitchen table. “I mean, you told me about what your parents did to Katherine. I tried to convince myself for decades that I exclusively liked men. It’s not like I was born yesterday. I could have guessed that someone might misinterpret what they saw.”

“But you couldn’t have guessed that that someone would burst in without knocking,” Bob pointed out.

Helen rested her chin on her hands. “I think Evelyn does need help. Her whole worldview was shaken. I just don’t see how she can get any help in a place like that.”

Bob mulled over that idea. “Then maybe she shouldn’t be in a place like that.”

“Apparently, no amount of money can get her out until she’s judged no longer a threat to herself,” Helen sighed. “But if they keep her so sedated she can’t even talk on the phone, she can’t make any progress, and she’ll be in a hospital forever.”

“Maybe you could help,” Bob suggested.

Helen tilted her head to one side. “How? By putting in a good word for her? The staff probably thinks I’m a bad influence. How could I…” Helen’s eyes widened. “No.”

“You don’t have to actually break her out,” said Bob. “Just…bring her a screwdriver or something. Judging from her engineering skills, she could probably break out of the place with a paper clip and chewing gum.”

“Maybe I should have let Winston buy the hospital,” Helen groaned. “Ignoring the fact that you’re suggesting that I help the woman who hypnotized us and tried to make supers illegal forever, if she gets caught trying to escape, they could do worse to her than they already have.” Her shoulders drooped. “We always care about putting the bad guy away. We never care about what happens to them after they go away. Maybe we should.” Helen squinted up at her husband. “I still can’t believe you’re suggesting I help a supervillainess escape.”

“A supervillainess,” Bob conceded, “who _likes_ you.”

Helen leaned her head back and groaned again. “You’re _teasing_ me. You are honest to god teasing me. ‘She _likes_ you.’ You sound like one of Violet’s friends.”

“Hey, I am suggesting you use your feminine wiles to persuade a villain over to the right side! It’s a legitimate strategy!” said Bob, grinning.

“My ‘feminine wiles.’” Helen dragged her hands over her face. “When we agreed to an open marriage, I didn’t think it would result in this much…immaturity.”

“Helen, we’ve faced a lot worse,” said Bob, his tone becoming more serious. “We’ve faced spree killers and serial murderers. People with no remorse, like Syndrome. Evelyn feels remorse. She feels guilt. And it sounds like you got through to her. We’ve beaten a lot of bad guys. How often do we get to help the bad guys become good guys?”

“You’re thinking of Mirage,” Helen murmured, and Bob nodded. One corner of Helen’s mouth quirked upward. “Are you also thinking of Mirage because she…how did you put it…' _liked_ you?'”

Bob turned a shade of red that rivaled his super suit, and Helen couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Laughing felt much better than that sickening stab of betrayal she had felt when she walked into the holding cell on Nomanisan Island and saw Bob embracing an unfamiliar woman.

“Helen, I would never have…”

“I know,” Helen got out. “That’s why I can laugh.” She took a few deep breaths to get herself under control. “I’ll think about helping Evelyn escape. But first I have to be able to see her.”

Fortunately for Helen, she only had to wait another week. On Thursday morning, she called the hospital and asked if Evelyn Deavor was receiving visitors. Instead of a categorical “no”, the staff member on duty said, “Well, I’ll ask”. Helen waited, forgetting to breathe for a few moments, until the doubtful voice on the other end of the line said “You can come see her, but she’s pretty unresponsive.”

Helen’s heart rate felt like it doubled. “Okay. Okay, I’ll be there!”

The attendant at the psychiatric unit’s front desk gave Helen a strange look when she said she was there to visit Evelyn Deavor, but didn’t give her a hard time. Helen braced herself as she walked into Evelyn’s room and was greeted by the sight of a curled-up, human-shaped lump under the sparse white covers provided for the patients' beds.

“Evelyn?” Helen asked softly. “Evelyn? Did they tell you I’d be here?”

Evelyn made no indication that she had heard Helen. Helen walked closer and reached for the other woman’s shoulder. 

“Evelyn?”

Again, Evelyn was unresponsive. Helen put pressure on Evelyn’s shoulder, trying to get her to roll over, which she did. Her skin was only a few shades darker than the sheets, and would have thought about trying to run her fingers through Evelyn’s hair, but it looked like it needed at least an hour of combing first. Evelyn’s eyes were glazed and unfocused; Helen suppressed a flinch at the sight of a brilliant mind forcibly smothered. Helen hesitated for a moment, then cupped her hand under Evelyn’s chin and lifted her face. “Hey. Evelyn? Are you in there?”

Evelyn’s eyes fell on Helen’s face, and after a moment, she blinked and Helen saw a brief spark in her eyes. Slowly, as if she were having trouble coordinating her movements, Evelyn reached up and copied Helen’s gesture, her hand resting under Helen’s chin. “He…len,” she got out, speaking as if forming words were a great effort.

“Oh, Evelyn,” Helen sighed. “They’ve drugged you within an inch of your life.” She sat down on the bed and tried to move Evelyn so she could lay Evelyn’s head in her lap; weakly, Evelyn resisted, trying to push Helen’s hands away. “What’s wrong?”

Evelyn struggled to sit up partially, looked at the door, and then looked at Helen, fear showing through her drug-induced exhaustion.

Helen thought she understood. “Okay, that’s a fair concern.”

Evelyn collapsed back onto the bed, eyes closed. Helen brushed the back of one hand against Evelyn’s face, earning a tiny whimpering noise in response, followed by another mumbled utterance of Helen’s name, this time with the syllables closer together. Looking as though she was at war with her ability to move, Evelyn turned over so she was lying on her back and reached up for Helen. Helen leaned down and clasped Evelyn’s hand to her cheek.

Evelyn whispered another barely-there word: “Why?”

“Isn’t that the million-dollar question,” said Helen. “I guess…because I feel responsible for you being here.” She paused. “And I wanted to see you. Even after everything you did, I wanted to see you, because I believe that there’s hope for you.”

Evelyn traded the energy to keep her eyes open for the energy to let out a single chuckle. Looking down at the diminished shell of the woman that Helen had bonded with and been betrayed by and then forgiven, once clever and cynical and passionate and _there_ , Helen made a decision. “Don’t worry, Evelyn,” Helen whispered. “I’ll get you out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good luck with that, Helen.


	4. You Are Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helen tries to make good on her declaration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a brief discussion of conversion therapy. Proceed with caution.

Evelyn’s eyes cracked open and she raised an eyebrow in what was unmistakably a “really?” expression. Helen couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, really. I know you can probably figure out a way to escape from this place using only a few paper clips, but I’m guessing it would be easier if you had some tools.”

Evelyn took a deep breath and forced out a bare bones sentence: “’m listening.”

“I can tell you’re having trouble speaking. Would writing be easier?”

“Yeah.” Evelyn dragged herself into a sitting position and Helen helped her to sit against the wall against which the bed abutted (there was no headboard). “’s a notepad…” Evelyn gestured vaguely in the direction of the end table, where there was indeed a large college-ruled notebook and a pencil. The pencil clearly needed sharpening, and it looked as if the nails on Evelyn’s good hand had been sacrificed to the cause of peeling away the wood to get at the lead. The notebook told the story of why; it was already a quarter of the way full of schematics that Helen couldn’t begin to understand from a single glance. Every page had a date on it, and Helen couldn’t help but notice that there were no entries dated after her last visit.

Helen handed the notepad to Evelyn and placed the pencil in her hand, then let Evelyn focus on fighting the effects of the sedation long enough to write. Helen kept an eye on the clock, remembering Evelyn’s warning that they would be checked on every fifteen minutes. Evelyn barely finished writing in time for Helen to stuff the paper in her pocket before a staff member opened the door, and Helen would be thankful for years that the person knocked first. It was the dark-haired nurse that had checked Helen out after her last visit. “Everything okay here?” she asked.

Evelyn snorted derisively. “We’re okay,” said Helen. The nurse nodded and closed the door. “I know, I know,” said Helen to Evelyn, “that’s only true for a given definition of ‘okay’.”

“Pretty bad definition,” said Evelyn with a sigh.

“Hopefully not for much longer,” said Helen, peeling back the bedclothes enough that she could reach Evelyn’s good hand, as Evelyn had been curled up under the sheet with just her head visible. She took Evelyn’s working hand between her two, earning what sounded like a happy sigh. “So are they not letting you have real clothes now?”

Evelyn looked down at herself, appearing to notice for the first time that she was wearing a pair of loose white pajamas. “Damn,” she muttered, her cheeks coloring. “’s hard to…keep track of time.”

“It’s okay,” Helen soothed. “It seems like it’s hard for you to stay awake, let alone keep track of time.”

“Fucking _miracle_ ‘m awake,” Evelyn mumbled, and Helen chuckled.

“Do you want me to go?”

“No.”

“Okay.” Helen stayed with Evelyn for a while longer, using both of her hands to massage Evelyn’s functioning hand. Evelyn managed to stay awake, but barely, and Helen couldn’t help but chuckle at the blissful expression on her face. “You like having your hands rubbed, don’t you?”

“Only by you.”

Evelyn’s voice was so quiet that it took Helen a moment to puzzle out what she said, and when she picked the meaning out of the syllables, she thought she could feel herself blushing. “I have to get home, but I’ll be back next week.”

Evelyn’s reply was to hold her arms out; Helen obligingly pulled her into an embrace. “Cast off soon…I think,” said Evelyn, shifting her broken hand.

“Oh, I see. So I’ll have to massage both your hands next week.”

“Mmm…yeah.” Evelyn held on to Helen even as she tried to let go. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Thank me when you’re out,” Helen whispered back. “I’ll try to get you everything on your list.”

-

“Well, it isn’t quite a paper clip and chewing gum, but it looks like she doesn’t need much,” said Helen as she and Bob compared Evelyn’s list to the contents of their shared toolbox. “I wonder what she needs needle-nose pliers for…probably rewiring some kind of alarm.”

“Probably,” Bob agreed, picking the apparatus Helen had mentioned out of the toolbox. “Guess I’m going to the hardware store.”

“Somehow I doubt that Evelyn will be able to return these,” Helen agreed. “At least they’re all small. They always look through my purse when I go to visit; I’m not sure how else I’d smuggle them in to her.”

Bob looked askance at Helen. “How _are_ you going to get these things past security?”

-

“I’d ask you to look away,” said Helen, “since I know you’ll enjoy this, but…” She reached down the collar of her shirt and extracted a tiny Philips head screwdriver from her bra. “Did you deliberately choose items that I could smuggle like this?”

Evelyn chuckled, sitting up and crossing her legs. Her hair was still even more unkempt than it had been the first time Helen had seen her, and her face was worrisomely pale, but she looked like herself. “I knew you were good.”

“You seem better than last time I was here,” said Helen, digging back into her bra for another tool. “More alert. And dressed this time.” She indicated Evelyn’s outfit, which matched this time. 

“Yeah. Still kind of…foggy, but better. They lowered my dose. Now they’re only giving me enough to numb a moose instead of a whale.” Evelyn held her hand out and Helen dropped the tools into her palm; Evelyn looked through them quickly and stuffed them into her pillowcase. “You got everything.”

“Yep,” Helen agreed. “I hope it helps.”

Evelyn took one of Helen’s hands and squeezed hard. “Me too.”

Helen thought she understood Evelyn well enough to know that that meant “thank you”. “How’s your left hand?”

Evelyn showed her. Helen could see that the hand was not inflamed or bruised, but two of the knuckles had obviously been broken and healed in slightly unnatural positions.

“Does it hurt?” Helen asked, reaching for Evelyn’s outstretched hand.

“No.”

“So I can do this, then?” Helen began carefully working the muscles in Evelyn’s hand with the pads of her thumbs.

Evelyn’s eyes drifted shut. “Now I really wish I had been able to make superheroes illegal, because you missed your calling as a hand-masseuse.”

Helen laughed. “Is that so?”

“Definitely.” Evelyn sighed.

“How are they treating you?” Helen asked softly.

“Not great. They’re routinely showing me images of women in swimwear and shocking me,” said Evelyn conversationally.

Helen’s mouth fell open. “ _What!?_ ”

“I didn’t say you could stop,” said Evelyn, indicating the hand that Helen was holding.

“They’re _shocking_ you!?” Helen repeated. “Is…is that what they do to…?”

“Dykes like me? Yeah.” Evelyn smiled sardonically. “Who still like having you massage their hands, so apparently it’s not working.”

Helen shuddered. “Now I think Katherine had it okay, just being kicked out.”

“Who’s Katherine?”

Helen resumed massaging Evelyn’s hand, taking particular care not to aggravate the recently healed knuckles. “Bob’s older sister. She came out to their parents when she was a teenager. Bob was pretty young…he still feels bad that he didn’t do anything.” Helen paused. “Sometimes I wonder if he’s so gung-ho about doing super work because he feels like if he does enough good, it will make up for not protecting his sister.”

Evelyn sniffed. “Oh, so it’s not altruism, it’s guilt. That’s a _great_ motivator. Really noble.”

“I wouldn’t have married him if there weren’t some genuine altruism. Give me a little credit,” Helen insisted, and Evelyn’s shoulders drooped slightly.

“Right,” Evelyn mumbled. She closed her eyes, suddenly looking just as exhausted as she had the last time Helen had visited her in the hospital. “You know, it would have been easier if you were some…ineffectual bitch with your nose in the air who thought she was better than people who aren’t supers.”

“I’ll give you another crack at that insult if you want,” Helen joked, but Evelyn didn’t laugh.

“How is Katherine now?”

Helen sighed. “We don’t know. Bob tried to find her as soon as he turned 18. He’s even hired private investigators. He won’t give up on finding her, but I don’t know how likely it is at this point.”

“Well, I hope she was able to avoid conversion therapy,” Evelyn grumbled. “My brain still feels like it’s made of cotton balls, but…” Evelyn eyed the clock, making sure that a hospital staff member wasn’t about to burst in. “I am out of here _tonight_.” 

“I don’t blame you,” said Helen. “They’re really trying to ‘cure’ you of being a lesbian because they saw me holding you?”

Evelyn closed her eyes. “I was stupid.”

“I doubt that.”

“No. I was stupid. I’m terrible with people. The head psychiatrist here talked to me right after they first pumped me full of alprazolam, and in my addled state, I believed her when she said that she wanted to help me and that I should feel safe. _Safe,_ ” Evelyn scoffed. “I admitted that I like women, and next thing I knew, they were hooking me up to electrodes.”

“You weren’t stupid, you were drugged.” Helen thought about dropping a quick kiss on Evelyn’s hand, but it was almost time for a nurse to check on them.

“I could have been more careful. Speaking of which…” Evelyn took another look at the clock and pulled her hand away from Helen, just in time for another check-in from the brunette nurse.

“She might be okay,” said Helen, nodding in the nurse’s direction after the door had closed. Evelyn sniffed. “Do you trust anyone? When you’re not drugged, I mean.”

Evelyn’s expression darkened. “No. I mean…Win, sort of, more than anyone. But he doesn’t know I’m a lesbian.”

“ _I’m_ helping you escape from this place, and you sent hypnotized supers after my kids,” said Helen pointedly. “Even though I know your motivations weren’t as execrable as I initially thought.”

“Execrable. Yummy,” said Evelyn dryly, but she heaved a sigh and reached for Helen’s hand. “Helen…I don’t know. Part of me says you’re only helping me because you feel guilty.”

“You don’t trust easily.” Helen cupped Evelyn’s cheek in her other hand and Evelyn shook her head no, ending up with her lips lightly brushing Helen’s palm. Helen thought that Evelyn was going to kiss her hand, but instead, Evelyn took Helen’s hand between her two and began carefully massaging the palm.

“I guess it’s my turn now,” said Evelyn, “although I probably won’t be as good at this as you.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Helen had never had her hands massaged before. It was a little tempting to relax enough that her hands would start stretching, but she wasn’t sure if that would startle or distract Evelyn, so she tried to keep her hands in their natural shape. “Since I don’t have telepathy,” Helen said, “I can’t say for certain that I’m enjoying this as much as you did, but it feels good.”

“I like your hands,” mumbled Evelyn, sounding distant.

Helen felt blood rush to her cheeks.

“Are you tired?”

Evelyn sighed, nodding. “Fucking alprazolam. But I don’t want you to go.”

“I don’t want to go either, unless it’s too hard for you to stay awake.” Helen bit her lower lip. “Evelyn…what exactly is it you feel for me?”

Evelyn lifted Helen’s hand to her cheek again. “I…I don’t know. I’ve never been good at describing my feelings. The drugs make it easier to blab—when I can form words—but they make it harder to think, so…I…I’m not sure, but I know I don’t just want you in my bed. I mean, I do want you in my bed…”

Helen’s blush darkened.

“…but I like talking to you. I can never just talk to people. I always had to hide who I was. Lesbian, cranky bitch in caffeine withdrawal, Screenslaver who blamed superheroes for her parents’ death…” Evelyn let out a long breath. “I don’t have anything to hide from you anymore. And I like that.” 

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Helen murmured. “I don’t suppose you like me enough to promise you won’t try to outlaw superheroes again once you’re out?”

“Maybe just direct lines,” Evelyn muttered darkly. 

Helen would have been more concerned if that hadn’t been her idea. “Be careful, okay? Take care of yourself.”

Evelyn nodded, took a quick glance at the clock, and flung her arms around Helen. Helen wasn’t entirely surprised by the gesture; she hugged Evelyn tightly for a brief moment and let go just as Evelyn leaned back, nervous about being caught by a nurse again.

“You should rest,” said Helen gently. “Save your strength. You’ll need it.” She stood. “Bye, Evelyn.”

“Bye, Helen,” said Evelyn through a yawn. As Helen exited the room, she cast a glance over her shoulder and saw Evelyn settling down to sleep. 

“Please get out safely,” Helen whispered.


	5. Watch Your Screen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helen hears about the results of Evelyn's escape attempt.

Helen heard nothing for four days, and on each day, she managed to talk herself out of calling the hospital and checking up on Evelyn. The fact that she had heard nothing made her nervous; had Evelyn made her escape attempt and failed, and again been sedated to the degree that she was unresponsive? Or had her escape tools been discovered?

It was on the fifth day that she got another panicked call from Winston Deavor. Helen picked up the phone and had barely gotten out the first few syllables of “Parr residence” before Winston started shouting. “Evelyn’s gone! She’s not in the hospital and they have no idea where she is and she hasn’t called me and _I don’t know where my sister is_!”

“Calm down, Win,” Helen soothed, her voice belying her thudding heart. “What are you saying? She escaped from the hospital?”

“Yes! Or…” He trailed off. “Why do you say ‘escaped’?”

Helen sighed; apparently Evelyn hadn’t told her brother about the conversion therapy. Then again, she had never told him why a medical professional might put her through conversion therapy. “She told me some things that it seems that she kept from you. I think she’d rather I not tell you why I think ‘escaped’ is the right word.”

“Her doctor told me she was hysterical.” Winston’s voice was puzzled. “That was why they gave her such a high dose.”

Helen bit her tongue before she could say “They did more than sedate her”. “I think she’d rather tell you than you hear it from me.”

“But I haven’t heard anything from her!” Winston had slid back into panicking mode. “I know you’ve been visiting her, so I thought I’d call you.”

Helen’s brow furrowed. “She doesn’t have anyone else?”

There was a long, ugly silence. “She always kept to herself,” said Winston finally. “She always said that if the rest of the tech division weren’t calling her a…a…well, a bitch, she was doing something wrong.”

Helen imagined what it must have been like to be a female inventor and believed that wholeheartedly. “I haven’t heard from Evelyn. I’ll let you know if I do.”

Winston was quiet for another long moment. “Did you help her break out of the hospital?”

Helen winced. “Is anyone else listening on this call?”

“No.” Winston sounded taken aback.

“Is it being recorded?”

“No!”

Helen let out a sigh. “Yes, and once she tells you exactly what was going on in that hospital, you’ll understand why.”

“So…you trust her to…?”

Helen swallowed hard. “I’m not sure. She hasn’t changed her mind entirely about supers. But I don’t think she’ll try to hurt anyone.” She paused. “Or herself.”

“I’m worried about her,” said Winston in a small voice. “I know what she did, and I…I don’t know my own sister. You’ve barely met her and you know her better than I do. And I don’t know what to think, so I’m worried.”

“My mind isn’t exactly at ease either,” Helen sighed. “But I think we can agree that Evelyn can take care of herself.”

Helen spent the rest of the phone call reassuring Winston and being equal parts sharing Winston’s concern and being tempted to agree with Evelyn’s assessment of him as “a child”. It was just after Helen had hung up that Bob brought in the mail.

“Helen, look at this. It might be from Evelyn.” Bob handed Helen a surprisingly heavy manila envelope with no return address. It was addressed to Helen Parr, but the address appeared to have been somehow typed or printed.

“Only one way to find out,” said Helen, opening the envelope and withdrawing… “A screen. Naturally.”

Bob lunged for the thin pad, snatching it out of Helen’s hand, and she quirked an eyebrow at him. He looked at the screen in his hand, turning it over several times. “Uh. Sorry. Reflex.”

“Well, she did hypnotize us,” Helen sighed, extending a hand. Slightly abashed, Bob handed over the pad. “I wonder how we turn it on.”

The thin machine issued a low beep. “Provide voice identification,” it said in a mechanical voice.

Helen thought about saying “Elastigirl”, but then again, Evelyn had been calling her “Helen”. “Helen Parr,” Helen tried, making a mental note to ask Evelyn how she had figured out her secret identity. 

The machine beeped again. “Voice identification accepted.” The screen flickered to life and Helen fought the urge to look away in self-preservation. But instead of flashing, hypnotic blue and black, she saw what looked like the inside of an empty garage. Half a second later, she heard rapid footsteps, and then Evelyn walked into the frame. She was still pale and her eyes looked sunken and weary, but her hair looked as if it had been combed recently and her outfit matched.

“Evelyn,” Helen whispered.

Evelyn smiled weakly. “Hey, Helen. I owe you a thank-you. Or maybe a kidney, if you ever need one. What blood type are you?”

Helen couldn’t help but smile back. Bob peeked over her shoulder and Evelyn’s smile vanished. “Hello, Mr. Incredible,” she said stiffly.

“Evelyn,” said Bob in a tone that was too neutral to be natural. “I hope you don’t make my wife regret helping you.”

Evelyn looked away from the camera for a moment. “I think how she feels is up to her, but I don’t plan on making her regret it.”

“Except for doing something about direct lines, right?” said Helen, and Evelyn made a noise that might have been a chuckle.

“Something like that. But not for a long time.”

“Evelyn,” Helen hedged, “how do you know my name?”

Evelyn cringed. She tried to hide it, but Helen noticed. “I asked you when you were hypnotized. Seemed weird to call the person I was kissing ‘Elastigirl’.”

What happened to Bob in response to that could have been described as “choking on nothing”. Helen thought she could feel herself blushing again. Evelyn chose to ignore both.

“So, Mr. Incredible, I hope _you’re_ not regretting letting your wife visit me.”

Helen quirked an eyebrow. “’Letting’ me visit you?”

“What, did you two take the ‘obey’ part out of your wedding vows?” Evelyn paused. “Stupid question. Of course you did.”

“ _You_ try making her do anything, at least without using hypnosis,” said Bob, and Evelyn chuckled. Helen playfully socked his shoulder.

“I think I prefer her not hypnotized,” said Evelyn. “I could never figure out what caused the unnatural vocal cadence, but it was creepy. I don’t miss it.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “I’ve already talked for too long.”

“Where—?” Helen cut herself off, and Evelyn smiled sardonically.

“You’re too smart to finish that question. When the police ask you about being the last person to see the Screenslaver before she vanished, you’re going to want to be telling the truth when you say you don’t know where she is now.” Evelyn pushed a hand through her hair. “I have to go. It’s time for me to disappear.”

“What, forever?” Helen meant to sound like she was joking, but panic seeped in around the edges of her voice. The sensation of her heart being mercilessly constricted was back, this time in response to the thought of never seeing Evelyn again.

One corner of Evelyn’s mouth briefly twitched upward. “Nah. I don’t think I could stay away from you forever.” She paused. “By the way, this device will self-destruct five minutes after I sign off.”

“Five minutes?” Helen repeated.

“Yeah. To give you time to put it somewhere it wouldn’t singe your hands or catch your house—or rather my brother’s house—on fire.”

“Or set off the fire alarm,” Bob added.

“I’m signing off now,” said Evelyn. “And check to make sure you got everything out of the envelope.”

“Evelyn, wait,” said Helen, and Evelyn looked into the camera with an expression of mild surprise.

“Yeah?

Helen bit her lower lip. “Can you promise me you won’t hurt yourself?” she asked softly.

Evelyn laughed sadly. “Oh, _no_. Dammit, Helen, you know I can’t say no to you asking like that.”

“Good,” Helen countered.

“Then I promise.” Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Good- _bye_ , Helen.” 

“Bye, Evelyn,” Helen whispered as the screen went dark. Behind her, Bob shook the manila envelope over his hand, and the tools Helen had brought Evelyn in the hospital fell into his hand.

“Huh,” said Bob. “Well…that was nice of her.”

“Nice and practical; if she gets caught, I’m sure she won’t want to have her escape tools with her, especially if they could be traced back to us.” Helen retrieved her super suit from her wardrobe and wrapped it around the device Evelyn had sent; the sturdy material that Edna had designed was completely untouched when the screen self-destructed with a muted _puff_ noise, and Helen discarded the ashes in the trash can.

“How do you think she managed to get that thing to you within a day of escaping from the hospital?” Bob asked as Helen came back into the kitchen. 

“Who knows? She’s a genius. She probably made me the new Elasticycle in a weekend.” Helen sighed. “I miss that bike.”

The phone rang; Helen answered and, again, didn’t even finish saying “Parr residence” before Winston Deavor interrupted her.

“I heard from Evelyn!”

“So did I,” said Helen. “She sent me—what else—a screen.”

“Me too, but she didn’t tell me much,” Winston fretted. “I don’t know where she is. She scrambled the signal somehow so it couldn’t be traced.”

“Of course she did,” Helen sighed. “She _is_ on the lam.”

Winston didn’t say anything for a long time. “I guess I…don’t know whether I would turn her in or not,” he said, his voice quiet and a little tremulous. “I think she needs help.”

“I think she does too,” said Helen, “but she wasn’t getting it in that hospital.”

“She still won’t tell me what they were doing to her! Well, she told me that it involved electric shocks, but she wouldn’t say why!”

Helen closed her eyes. “Winston, I’m sorry, but if she’s not ready to tell you, that’s her decision, not mine.”

“Did she at least tell you where she was?” Winston was almost pleading.

“No,” said Helen firmly. “Look, Win, I think we should give her a second chance. If she sticks to trying to regulate superhero activity legally, I think she should stay out of jail, and she definitely should stay out of the hospital.”

“I still don’t understand what she has against superheroes,” Winston fretted.

Helen leaned against a wall. “Bob and I are really grateful for everything you’ve done for us. And so are the kids, especially Dash. But I’m not going to tell you things about your sister that she really should be the one to discuss with you.”

“I understand,” said Winston heavily. “But please tell me if she contacts you. She seems to trust you.”

 _I think it’s more than that_ , Helen said mentally, but out loud, all she said was “I will”.

“How old was Winston when his parents died?” Helen asked rhetorically as soon as she hung up the phone. “Sometimes he really does seem like he needs mothering.”

“Well, he can’t do much better than you in that department,” Bob pointed out as he withdrew a bag of baby carrots and a container of spinach artichoke dip from the refrigerator.

Helen eyed the container of dip and made a mental note to ask Bob to get a smaller container next time, as the stuff was awfully fattening. “I appreciate that, but I can’t mother Winston while I’m… _involved_ with his sister. That’s just weird.”

Bob chuckled as he sat down at the kitchen table. “And she’s got it _bad_ for you.”

Helen took a package of crackers from the pantry and reached across the room for a small scoop of the dip; fattening or not, it was delicious. “What do you mean?”

“’I can’t stay away from you forever’? ‘I can’t say no to you’? She is head over heels. Not that I blame her.” Bob stuck a carrot into the dip.

“Bob, you realize that raw vegetables become less healthy when you smother them in that stuff,” said Helen. “Don’t let Dash get any ideas.”

Bob shrugged. “I hated vegetables at that age too. He’ll grow out of it.”

Helen sat down beside him and popped a carrot into her mouth, using the time she spent eating to think. “I think Evelyn definitely does have feelings for me. Let’s just hope that that keeps her from doing anything illegal.”

“Helen…” Bob laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “You realize that if she betrays you, I’m going to have to kill her.”

Helen smiled and leaned against her husband. “I know.” She felt a brief pang at the thought that she had Bob and the rest of her family and the support of the entire super community, and Evelyn was somewhere in hiding, completely alone. _Please be safe, Evelyn_ , Helen thought, as if Evelyn could hear her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, this was kind of a filler chapter. The next one will be more interesting, I promise.


	6. You Are No Longer in Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reunion happens over espresso and chamomile.

Evelyn had said it wouldn’t be “forever”, but the three months that went by before Helen heard from her again certainly felt something very like forever. For the first month, she used every excuse to be in the house where she could answer the phone, letting Bob take any superhero assignments and only able to take her mind off of Evelyn while watching Dash at a track meet or driving Violet to a date with Tony (and, of course, when Bob was home). While Helen’s family still distracted her from worrying about Evelyn, the moment she was reminded of Evelyn again, the memory came with a stab of guilt that she had a loving, supportive family and Evelyn was on her own.

During the second month, she was starting to lose hope that she would ever see Evelyn again and stopped operating as if she would. She joined a local gym in order to get back into top superhero shape and traded off hero work assignments with Bob, and at the beginning of the third month, Helen traveled to Megapolis to team up with Voyd and capture the Underminer. With practice, Voyd had shaken off some of her nerves, and with her and Helen working together, it took less than two weeks to track and apprehend the Underminer.

“What _is_ he, do you think?” Voyd asked hesitantly as they watched the police wrestle the still-loudly pontificating Underminer (“I will continue to spread chaos from my jail cell,” etc.) into a squad car. “He looks like a naked mole rat.”

“Since we haven’t had any reports of mad scientists in a while, I’m guessing he had some kind of surgery and isn’t the result of cross-species breeding,” said Helen. “Although I have yet to figure out why he ‘declares war on peace and happiness’ and then just…robs banks.”

“That is weird,” Voyd agreed. She looked at Helen shyly. “So…we work well together, right?”

Helen couldn’t help but smile. “Right. You’ve improved so much since we met.”

“Do you think I could…well…uh, what I’m trying to say is…” Voyd reached out and grabbed Helen’s hand as if she had to do it quickly before she lost her nerve. “Do you need a sidekick?”

Helen thought about what it would mean if she said “yes”. It had become increasingly obvious that Voyd’s admiration for her extended to romantic feelings, and Helen had lost a bet with herself that those feelings were a schoolgirl crush that would dissipate right away. “You’d be a great sidekick, Voyd,” said Helen warmly. “But…” She looked down at Voyd’s hand in hers and, for a moment, all she could think about was holding Evelyn’s deformed hand in her hospital room. “…I can’t leave my family, and they’ve been dragged around so much for superhero work; they couldn’t come with me.”

“I could come to Municiberg!” Voyd insisted.

“That’s sweet of you to offer, but I think Megapolis needs you more.” Helen gave Voyd a quick hug. “You’re a sweet girl and a talented hero, but I can’t really take on a new sidekick right now, especially because Bob and I are planning on continuing to trade off taking hero work and staying home. Sticking with my schedule would be a lot to ask of a sidekick; I don’t think it would be fair.”

Voyd nodded, looking crestfallen. “Yeah, okay. That’s fine. I get it.”

“I hope we get to work together again, though,” Helen added, and Voyd perked up slightly.

“That’d be great!”

Helen squeezed Voyd’s shoulder and wondered if she would feel any different if she weren’t still having such a hard time not thinking about Evelyn. After all, Voyd—Karen—was a little young for her.

Exactly ninety-one days after Evelyn sent the communication screen to the Parr residence, Helen returned home late at night after a grueling hero work mission to catch a serial arsonist with pyrokinesis and, despite her exhaustion and Bob’s arm draped over her, couldn’t sleep. Around six in the morning, she got up and slouched downstairs for coffee. She was on her third cup when the phone rang.

“Damn salespeople,” Helen muttered as she reached across the room for the phone. “Parr residence,” she mumbled into the receiver, prepared to give some home appliance salesman an earful.

“Sounds like I just woke you up,” said a familiar voice that Helen had become convinced she would never hear again. “Should I call back later?”

Helen sat bolt upright, nearly falling off her chair. “Evelyn?” she whispered. “Is that you?”

“I told you it wouldn’t be forever.” Evelyn paused. “I haven’t been able to call before. I wanted to.”

“I missed you.”

Helen’s confession hung in the air for a moment, then Evelyn chuckled.

“Elastigirl, with her family and her superhero job, missed little old me? I must have made quite an impression.” There was a rush of static that indicated a sigh. “I don’t miss being so drugged I can’t move, but maybe a pill or two would help me blurt out what I’m thinking. Or a few glasses of wine.” Another pause. “Maybe you’d like to share a glass with me.”

Helen stood up, twisting the phone cord around her fingers. “Are you asking me out?”

“That depends. Are you saying ye—“

“ _Yes_.” Helen cleared her throat. “Although maybe we could do coffee before wine?”

“Mmm, I could always go for coffee. Do you know The Espresso Palace on 15th?”

That sounded familiar; Helen thought for a moment and something shook loose in her mind. “Yes, it’s near my son’s school. Sometimes I go there after I drop him off at track.”

Evelyn laughed. “Your speedster son does track? The normal kids don’t have a prayer.” She paused. “So…when…?”

“How about this weekend? I have some time then. Saturday at two?”

“You’ll make me wait that long?” Evelyn teased.

Helen smiled to herself. “It’s two days.”

“Well, I’m sure it will be worth it, at least,” said Evelyn. “I’ll see you then. Now I should go in case the police are tracing this call.”

“Evelyn, hang on a second.” Helen swallowed. “Are you…are you okay? Are you safe?”

“I’m hanging in there,” said Evelyn vaguely. “I’ll let you know more in person. I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay.” Helen was trying to figure out how to say good-bye when she heard a click on the other end of the line.

“Honey?” came Bob’s sleepy voice from the stairwell. “What’s going on?” 

Helen looked at him, slightly dazed, the phone still in her hand. “I have a date.”

-

Helen was at The Espresso Palace half an hour early. She sat facing the door, sipping chamomile to calm her nerves. She had changed her outfit several times, finally settling on black slacks and a button-up in a muted red color that was similar to the accents from her first super suit. Bob, naturally, had been absolutely no help.

“I haven’t been on a date in sixteen years!” she had said as Bob gave a completely noncommittal response to the third outfit in a row. “I only have…mom clothes!”

“Violet would probably be better at this than me,” Bob had sighed.

Helen had been quiet for a long moment. “What are we going to tell the kids? That their mother is dating someone, even though the two of us are staying together?”

“I don’t know,” Bob had admitted. “Maybe they shouldn’t know.”

“No,” Helen had sighed. “They’ll figure it out, especially Violet. I’ll be at The Espresso Palace with Evelyn three blocks from Dash’s school. What if our kids’ schoolmates see us together and tell Dash and Violet that their mom is cheating on their dad? We have to get out in front of this.”

“That’s going to be hard.”

“I know. But that’s life. That’s parenting.” Helen had nervously adjusted her hair in the mirror as she thought about the best thing to do. “I’ll talk to them after I get home. I don’t even know if Evelyn will show up. I don’t want to get the kids worked up over nothing.”

“Oh, she’ll show up,” Bob had said. “What do you think you’ll say to Dash and Vi?”

“That sometimes, you can love two people at once, and that sometimes, you can love men and women, and once in a while, both of those happen at the same time.” Helen had paused, thinking about the various ramifications her relationship with Evelyn could have on her children. “If the kids get teased…”

“We’ll worry about that later.” Bob had gotten up and put his arm around Helen. “You go meet Evelyn.”

Now, Helen nervously played with one of the buttons on her cuff, wondering if this weren’t a terrible idea, when Evelyn walked in.

It took Helen a moment to recognize her; Evelyn had grown her hair out and was wearing it in a neat(!) ponytail, and she was wearing dark sunglasses that were almost too large for her face. She had also traded her usual heels for casual navy blue flats, and instead of wearing large amounts of black, Evelyn had chosen slacks that matched her shoes and a white blouse with vertical navy blue stripes. Helen thought about waving, but Evelyn noticed her and walked over. “Helen?” Her voice was hesitant. She took her sunglasses off, and Helen could see that Evelyn had used some kind of clever makeup trick to conceal her distinctive eye shape. 

Helen got up, not wanting to say Evelyn’s name out loud, just in case. “Can I hug you?”

Evelyn’s eyes darted around nervously; Helen supposed that being forcibly sedated and shocked and then spending three months hiding from the authorities would do that. Helen took Evelyn’s hand, the one that had been broken. “It’s okay.”

The words were barely out of Helen’s mouth when she felt Evelyn’s arms wrapped around her tightly enough to bruise. Evelyn nestled her face against Helen’s throat, and Helen felt the other woman let out a long, shuddering breath. “It’s okay,” Helen repeated, sliding a hand up and down Evelyn’s back, hardly able to believe that this was the same woman who had once wielded so much control over her and her family.

Evelyn stepped back from their embrace, collecting herself. “Sorry,” said Evelyn, clearing her throat.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” said Helen.

Evelyn set her purse down on the seat across from Helen. “I need espresso. Watch my purse?”

“Of course.”

“Oh, and call me Vivian. Just in case.”

“Sounds good,” said Helen, and Evelyn went up to the counter to order. Helen sipped her chamomile, willing her nerves to stop jangling, and Evelyn came back to the table with a rather tall mug. Helen raised one eyebrow. “What did you get?”

“Red eye.”

“Really?” said Helen. “Because you actually look rested.”

Evelyn smiled bitterly. “I guess I find high-octane caffeine soothing. I always have. I’ve been drinking coffee since I was twelve.”

“Well, whatever works, I guess,” said Helen.

Evelyn sat down, stirring her drink. “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,” she muttered. “You could turn me in right this second. I mean, we’re in a coffee shop. You could scream ‘I’m Elastigirl, help me apprehend this criminal’, and I’d be swarmed. But I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

Helen reached for Evelyn’s hand under the table, and she felt Evelyn shiver again as she slid the pad of her thumb over the other woman’s knuckles. “You thought I’d turn you in.”

Evelyn shrugged. “You’ve had a few months to get over your guilt. I couldn’t rule out the possibility that I was walking into a trap. Wouldn’t blame you, either.”

“I haven’t given up on you,” said Helen, making circles on the back of Evelyn’s hand with her thumb. “Also, I wouldn’t say that meeting me for coffee was _the_ stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”

Evelyn snickered. “I guess I deserve that.” She sighed. “You superheroes. Always trying to save people.”

“And yet here you are, getting your hands massaged by me again,” Helen teased.

“Oh, shut up,” Evelyn grumbled. “It feels nice.”

Helen chuckled. “I have something for you.” She retracted her hands and searched through her purse. “I picked these up last night. I figured they would match whatever you had on today, but you seem to be semi-incognito.” Helen withdrew a pair of brand-new earrings from her purse; small studs in the shape of black triangles outlined with silver.

“You got me earrings?” Evelyn held her hand out and Helen handed the earrings to her. “I thought I was going to get arrested, but I got earrings.” She took out the plain silver spherical studs she was wearing, replaced them with the earrings from Helen, and withdrew a compact from her purse to examine her new earrings.

“I know they don’t match your outfit…” Helen began, but Evelyn cut her off. 

“I like them. Thank you.”

“So…” Helen drained her mug of chamomile. “Why ‘Vivian’?”

Evelyn swallowed and looked distant for a moment. “It was what my mom would have named me if she hadn’t picked Ev—uh, the name I ended up with.”

Helen remembered when Evelyn had said that her mother had been the one who had wanted to hide in the safe room, and had died of a broken heart after Norman’s death. Helen shelved that topic for a time other than hers and Evelyn’s first coffee date. “So, I guess we need a cover story. You know, in case someone recognizes me.”

Evelyn thought about that while taking a long sip of her red eye. “Well, don’t say I’m one of your relatives, or your husband’s. It’d be too suspicious that there's no resemblance.”

“Hmm.” Helen rested her chin on her hand. “Friends from a book club?”

“That might work,” Evelyn conceded. “We’ve been reading Daphne du Maurier.”

Helen nodded. “Okay. So we just finished… _Rebecca_?”

“That works, although I might get it confused with the film,” said Evelyn.

“Hmm.” Helen wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t really feel the need to see the adaptation. I wasn’t too fond of Mrs. de Winter.” 

“Ugh, I _know_!” Evelyn agreed emphatically. “I mean, grow a spine!”

“I was definitely a little disturbed when she hid that broken porcelain figurine like a naughty child,” said Helen, shaking her head. “I almost stopped reading.”

“Me too!” Evelyn laughed. “I don’t know why I finished it. Although Mrs. de Winter finally started acting a _little_ more independent when she fund out what a manipulating, cheating bitch Rebecca was…unless I’m getting mixed up with the film.”

“No, I think you’re right, it was after that particular revelation that she started acting like her own person.” Helen sighed. “You know, I wish there were more female characters with backbone in books. I got my daughter started on Nancy Drew pretty early, but she’s not much of a reader.”

“Oh my God. Nancy Drew.” Evelyn closed her eyes. “The first Nancy Drew stories came out when I was in high school. I was a little old for them, but I still read some of them anyway. It was nice to read about a female character _doing_ things. I think Grosset and Dunlap is re-working the whole series, so maybe your daughter can give them another shot after the new ones come out.”

“Maybe,” said Helen, trying not to think about how exactly she was going to explain what she was doing at the moment to Violet.

“Oh, hang on—I almost forgot. I got you something too. Just let me finish my drink first.” Evelyn took a long drink of her red eye.

“Okay, no rush,” said Helen. “So how have you been holding up?”

Evelyn didn’t answer for a long moment. “Mixed,” she said finally. “I’m used to being alone. But the moving around a lot, the constant worrying about being caught, and…” she sighed. “I know you said you forgave me. But I kept wanting…” Evelyn shook her head, her brow knitting as if she were trying to stop herself from crying.

“Go ahead,” said Helen gently, resting a hand on Evelyn’s knee.

“I kept thinking about the first time you came to visit me in the hospital. Remember when that dickhead nurse came in and started yelling at you to leave?”

Helen nodded. “How could I forget?”

“I kept thinking about how you were trying to make me feel better. It was working. I kept thinking about that.” Evelyn pushed a hand over her hair as if she hadn’t adjusted to having it pulled back and was expecting her older, short hairstyle.

Helen smiled sadly. “You thought about how I was holding you?”

Evelyn nodded, rubbing both her hands over her face. “Oh, my God. This is sappy. This is _so_ sappy. But…yeah.” She took another drink of her red eye. “Okay, now I have to finish this and show you my gift, because I can’t handle how awkward I am right now.”

“Hey.” Helen squeezed Evelyn’s knee. “Relax.”

“If you really want me to relax, you’ll give me another hand massage,” said Evelyn with a grim smile.

“I can certainly do that,” said Helen, taking Evelyn’s non-dominant hand in between hers and kneading Evelyn’s palm.

Evelyn closed her eyes. “Do superheroes ever have multiple powers and some of them are comparatively insignificant? Because I think your hand-masseuse powers count as super.”

“Well, my youngest son has seventeen powers.”

Evelyn’s eyes snapped open. “ _Seventeen_!?” 

“Yep. Let’s see if I can remember them all…” Helen tilted her head to one side. “He can make copies of himself, grow giant, turn into a kind of demon, turn into metal, turn elastic like me, warp reality, pass through walls, float, catch on fire—“

“Catch on _fire_!?” Evelyn shook her head. “Does my brother know your son might burn the house down?”

“We have countermeasures thanks to Edna Mode,” said Helen. “Thank God for her.”

“Hey, did she design your first super suit?” Evelyn asked.

“The one you like?” Helen smiled. “She did. And she was _not_ pleased that I wasn’t wearing the suit she made for me for your brother’s superhero advocacy campaign.”

Evelyn looked distressed, and Helen easily gathered that she was thinking something along the lines of what had gone through her head when she had broken her own hand. Helen caressed the knuckles that had healed wrong, and Evelyn sighed. “I like that maroon color on you,” she whispered. “Including today.”

Helen was fairly sure she was blushing. “Thank you. You look nice today too.”

“You mean I don’t look like an uncombed train wreck,” Evelyn mumbled, still at least partially entranced by the sensation of Helen massaging her hand.

“I mean you look nice,” said Helen lowly. “I like the new hairstyle.”

“Thanks.” Evelyn’s head tilted back. “You’re going to make me fall asleep. Espresso is no match for your sleep-inducing hand-masseuse abilities.”

“Imagine what would happen if I ever massaged your shoulders or your back,” said Helen, laughing.

Evelyn snickered. “I’d probably be asleep within seconds. It’s so relaxing.” She lifted both her hands in the air in a gesture of exasperation. “Okay, okay, I’m going to have to ask you to stop so I can actually think. I can finish my red eye some other time. I want to see how you like what I made you.”

“You _made_ me something?” Helen shouldered her purse. “Well, okay, I have to see this.”

Helen was surprised to see that Evelyn had driven to The Espresso Palace in an extremely unremarkable-looking gray pickup truck, although she supposed that driving something that didn’t suit her was part of her trying not to call attention to herself. Evelyn saw her looking at the car. “I had to talk myself out of getting a sticker that said ‘this is not my boyfriend’s truck,’” said Evelyn. “But that would have been conspicuous.”

“If hilarious,” added Helen.

“Can you help me with this tarp?” Evelyn indicated a heavy black tarpaulin that was stretched over something on the pickup truck’s flatbed.

“Sure,” said Helen, reminding herself not to stretch her arms so much that she would call attention to herself as she helped Evelyn unfasten the tarp from the truck’s flatbed and pull it down to reveal—

“ _A new Elasticycle_!?” Helen gasped, gaping at the sleek gunmetal gray machine that was strapped to the flatbed. “What…how…?”

“Don’t ask,” said Evelyn with a small smile. “Now, this is stealth mode. There’s a button you can press on the handlebars to get it to match your latest suit; that red and black Edna Mode one. But I thought you might like one with a design that was more versatile, so…well, you probably can’t carry groceries on it, but you don’t have to go shopping as Elastigirl if you want to take your bike out.”

By the end of Evelyn’s small speech, Helen had recovered from her shock, and she swept Evelyn off her feet and swung her in a circle. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you—“

“You’re welcome!” Evelyn got out. “But, uh, can you let me down?”

Instead of merely letting her down, Helen pulled Evelyn into a tight embrace. Evelyn hugged Helen tightly, holding onto her like a drowning person clinging to a lifeline for the second time that day. “So shall we take it for a spin?” Helen whispered in Evelyn’s ear.

Evelyn staggered back, an expression of unchecked surprise on her face. “Wha— _we_!?”

Helen gestured at the truck’s flatbed. “I see two helmets up there.”

“Yeah, I…I know that you don’t really need one, because blunt force trauma can’t hurt you much thanks to your powers, but I thought it might help for stealth and I didn’t know which color to pick, so there are two, but I…I mean, I never thought…” Evelyn babbled, reminding Helen slightly of Voyd.

“Hey.” Helen cupped Evelyn’s face in her hands. “I know how to ride one of these things. You’ll be safe with me.”

“Safe with you,” Evelyn repeated in a tone Helen couldn’t read.

Helen rested her forehead against Evelyn’s. “All I got you was earrings. You got me _a new motorcycle_. I owe you a long cruise with your arms wrapped around me, at the very least.”

“You sure know how to show a girl a good time,” said Evelyn, laughing a little nervously. “God, Helen, I…there’s a lot that’s new for me happening here. I’m not used to having this little…control.”

“If you’re really that scared,” Helen murmured, “I can retract the offer.”

“’Scared’?” Evelyn repeated, a tiny smirk appearing on her face. “Okay. You’re on. Let’s go for that long cruise with my arms wrapped around you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAMMIT BOB stop trying to avoid telling difficult truths. You've had two movies to learn this.
> 
> Don't worry, you'll get to see the motorcycle ride/the rest of the date. I just wanted to keep this chapter from being too much longer than the rest of the chapters in this work because I'm weird that way.


	7. I Built You a Bike

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A motorcycle ride and a revelation.

“I’d tell you to hang on,” said Helen, securing her motorcycle helmet, “but you’re already doing that and then some.”

“I like my brain _inside_ my skull, not on the surface of the road,” Evelyn quipped, tightening her arms around Helen so hard that she would have found it hard to breathe if not for her powers.

Helen touched Evelyn’s hand. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Okay.” Evelyn’s voice came out barely above a whisper.

“Ready? Here we go.” Helen revved the engine. “I promise I won’t gun it too hard.”

“I’m just remembering watching your suit cam…” Evelyn muttered as Helen steered the motorcycle to the parking lot’s exit.

“We’re just going for a drive, not chasing a runaway train,” said Helen.

“Thank God.”

Helen turned the bike into traffic and headed north. Municiberg was ringed by suburbs on most sides, but the area just to the north was rather rural, with many stretches of empty road. There would also be many places where it would be easy to pull over if Evelyn needed a break.

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God,” Evelyn mumbled steadily, almost like a mantra, as Helen drove. “I hope you appreciate that there is literally nobody else I would ride a motorcycle with.”

“You’re being very brave,” said Helen, unable to hold back a smile. “In fact, I think I may have to give you a backrub when this is over.”

Evelyn was quiet for a long moment. “Remember how I said we don’t know each other?”

Helen frowned, feeling a brief sting in her heart at the memory. “Yes.”

“Apparently, you actually know me too well.”

“Just that you like my hands,” Helen teased, and Evelyn stifled a shriek as Helen turned onto an empty stretch of road and sped up. “Don’t worry, I’ll obey the speed limits.”

Evelyn said nothing, choosing instead to press the faceplate of her helmet into Helen’s shoulder.

It was a perfect day for a motorcycle ride: warm but not too hot, and the skies were clear. Helen couldn’t hold back a happy sigh as she cruised down an open road, watching the trees and bushes zoom by. Having Evelyn pressed against her back and clinging to her was a novel experience, but certainly an extremely pleasant one. Helen slowed the bike enough to actually take in the scenery and called, “Evelyn! Look up!”

Hesitantly, Evelyn did. “Where are we?”

“We’re past the Municiberg city limits. This is Lake…”

“Lake Estates,” Evelyn finished. “I think I came through here on my way to The Espresso Palace. The place where I’m staying is pretty isolated.” She paused. “It’s nice.”

“Yeah,” said Helen, “it is.”

Evelyn’s grip around her waist went from “holding on for dear life” to “unusually tight embrace”. “I think I could learn to like this.”

“I hope so!”

Helen cruised for another twenty minutes or so, then pulled over. 

“Uh, where are we now?” Evelyn asked.

“Just somewhere I thought would be nice to stop.” Helen braked, parked the bike, and took off her helmet, shaking her head back and forth and sighing with relief. She helped Evelyn off the bike, and Evelyn leaned against her. “You okay?” she asked gently.

Evelyn nodded. “I’m okay. It was a little…unnerving at first, but holding on to you helped.” She straightened up, removed her helmet, and looked around. “Huh. This is a nice place to stop.”

Lake Estates was appropriately named; they were standing in a small clearing beside a medium-sized lake. “Picturesque” was an accurate descriptor for the scene; the sun glinted off the lake, and a light breeze rustled the trees. Evelyn took in the scene, undoing her ponytail and pushing her hands through her hair to fix it. Helen watched her; as Evelyn lifted her arms, her blouse rode up, exposing an inch or so of the pale skin of her back. Helen reached for Evelyn with one hand, sliding her fingertips along the exposed skin, and Evelyn shivered. She gave up on fixing her hair and reached for Helen, who pulled her into a warm embrace. “I hope you weren’t too scared on the motorcycle ride,” said Helen gently. “I didn’t mean to pressure you.”

“I was a little scared at first, but it was okay later. It was fun.” Evelyn looked around. “Look, I know this is pretty isolated, but can we maybe go behind the trees?”

“I can certainly understand why you’d be paranoid,” said Helen. She moved the new Elasticycle farther away from the road, took Evelyn’s hand, and led her behind a small copse of trees. 

Evelyn bit her lower lip, her eyes darting around anxiously. “I, uh. I really want to kiss you right n—” She was cut off by Helen’s lips against hers, and after a microsecond of shock, she flung her arms around Helen and kissed her back hard.

Helen had been kissed out of love, lust, duty, tenderness, affection, and more, but never had she been kissed with such desperation. Evelyn’s lips met hers again and again, hungrily and almost frantically, as if she expected every kiss she gave Helen to be the last. After what felt like a long time (though not long enough), Evelyn leaned back, seemingly fighting for breath.

“Don’t forget to breathe,” Helen teased.

“Breathing. Right. Oxygenating the blood. Kind of important.”

Helen rested her forehead against Evelyn’s again, linking her fingers behind the other woman’s back. “Wow. How long has it been since you’ve kissed someone?”

Evelyn swallowed. “You’re the first woman I ever kissed.”

Helen’s brow knotted. “Really? But you’re beautiful, and you were so successful…”

Evelyn blushed darkly at the compliment. “Yeah, about the ‘successful’. My parents never knew about me. Mom…I think she might have been okay with it, but I never got the chance to figure it out. But they probably would have made me hide it so the company image stayed squeaky-clean. Then when I became the designer…I mean, assuming I was actually able to tell if a woman was interested in me, what was I supposed to do? Risk her telling everyone that the brains behind DevTech is a big dyke?” Evelyn sighed.

Helen stroked the other woman’s cheek. “Evelyn…”

“It’s hard,” Evelyn whispered. “I mean…look at _Rebecca_. You know how Mrs. Danvers practically raised Rebecca in the book?”

“I think I remember that.”

“In the film, they make it seem like Mrs. Danvers is a lesbian who was in love with Rebecca. And then they kill her at the end because according to the Hays Code, you can’t have a lesbian or gay character who lives.” 

Helen’s brow furrowed. “What’s the Hays Code?”

“The Motion Picture Production Code,” Evelyn spat as if she were saying “dog shit”. “Industry moral guidelines about what you can’t put in American films. Oh, portraying homosexuality in a way that’s not evil isn’t _directly_ forbidden, but every filmmaker knows not to.” She laughed hollowly. “Damn. I guess I was following it myself.”

Helen kissed Evelyn’s cheek. “Come here.” She gathered Evelyn close again, stroking her hair with one hand, and felt Evelyn shudder. “You’re pretty good at kissing for someone who’s new at it.”

“You’re really good at it,” Evelyn mumbled against Helen’s shoulder.

“Will you show me where you’re staying?” Helen asked, kissing Evelyn’s hair.

“How come? I mean…what are you suggesting we do once we get there?” Helen felt Evelyn tense as she spoke.

“If you’re not ready for more than kisses, then I thought we could use a more comfortable place for that backrub I promised you.”

Evelyn hesitated. “My place isn’t all that set up because I’ve been on the move so much. Maybe some other time?”

“Sure,” Helen agreed. “If you want me to hold you like I did back in the hospital, we can go back to The Espresso Palace and sit in my car. The windows are tinted in case anyone in my family has to change into super suits. It’d be safe.”

Evelyn kissed Helen’s shoulder. “Okay.”

They climbed back onto the Elasticycle and Helen drove back to The Espresso Palace’s parking lot. “The police aren’t watching you or your house or your car, right?” Evelyn asked. “Although I guess if they are, I’m screwed anyway at this point.”

“I wouldn’t be here if they were,” Helen assured Evelyn, parking the bike and helping Evelyn off. “They talked to me once about how I visited you. They believed me when I said you were too sedated to talk and I didn’t know anything about you escaping.”

Twenty minutes later, Helen was sitting in the passenger seat of her car with the new Elasticycle in the trunk and Evelyn curled up in her lap. Helen was enjoying stroking and kissing Evelyn’s newly grown-out hair when Evelyn whispered, “Is this weird for you? To be…affectionate with another woman?”

“It’s weirder to be with someone who I helped get arrested,” Helen pointed out.

“Okay, fair point. But is it weird for you to be all mushy and sappy with a woman after only being with men your whole life?”

“Hmm…no,” Helen mused. “It’s nice. It’s like being honest with myself in a way that I hadn’t been before.”

Evelyn closed her eyes. “Yeah…it is.”

Evelyn dozed in Helen’s arms for a long time, until eventually Helen jostled her. “Evelyn? Are you awake? I have to go home and make dinner.”

Evelyn blinked sleepily and her eyes widened when she looked at the car clock. “Holy shit.” She sat up. “I guess our date is over, then.” She paused. “Can I kiss you good-bye?”

“Of course.” Helen leaned down and gave Evelyn several long, slow kisses.

“Next time we go out, I want to spend less time half-asleep and more time kissing you,” Evelyn mumbled.

“Fine with me,” Helen whispered in a voice that came out more seductive than she meant it to.

“When can I see you again?”

“Saturday can be date night,” Helen suggested. “I think I can trust Bob to be in charge of dinner one night a week while I’m with you.”

“And he’s really okay with…this? Us? What about your kids?”

Helen sighed. “I have to talk to them tonight.”

“And I guess I should talk to my brother.” Evelyn reached up and lightly touched Helen’s cheek. “Can you tell them I’m sorry?”

“I can definitely do that.”

“Good.” Evelyn took a deep breath. “Are you sure you want to do this? Have this…relationship with me?”

Helen kissed Evelyn’s forehead. “I’m sure,” she said firmly. “Why?”

“Because I don’t know why you trust me. Especially after what happened when you were hypnotized. I really, really don’t want to hurt you again, and I’ve never been in a real relationship before…I’m…” Evelyn squirmed so she could get her arms around Helen, who contorted herself slightly to make it easier for Evelyn. “I’m not used to being scared like this. Being scared someone will out me, yeah, sure, but not suddenly caring about somebody and being afraid of what I might do to them.” She pressed her face into Helen’s shoulder. “When you shot me out of my plane, why didn’t you just let me fall?”

“That’s not how I work.” Helen sifted her fingers through Evelyn’s hair. “And I’m glad you’re still here.”

Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut tightly. “Dammit,” she whispered as tears began to roll down her cheeks. “I promise I don’t usually cry this much. And you have to get home…”

“I’ve got you,” Helen soothed. “Dinner can wait. It’s okay. Go ahead and cry.”

Evelyn did, but not for long; Helen kept touching her hair, which had a powerful soothing effect. “You stretch like putty _and_ can turn me into putty,” Evelyn remarked as she leaned into Helen’s caresses on her scalp. “When are you going to admit that that’s definitely another superpower of yours?”

“Okay, I admit it; you got me,” said Helen, laughing. 

“I’ll stop crying all over you and let you get home now,” said Evelyn. She moved to get out of the car, but her eyes suddenly widened. “Wait! I forgot something.” She dug into her pocket.

“You already gave me the keys to the Elasticycle,” said Helen, but Evelyn shook her head.

“It’s not that.” She withdrew a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Helen, who unfolded it. It contained a phone number and a name.

“Who is Kit Purcell?”

“I had a hell of a time tracking her down because she changed her name,” said Evelyn, “but Kit Purcell was born Katherine Parr. Not that there aren’t a lot of Katherine Parrs, but I’m sure I’ve got the right one.”

Helen’s mouth fell open. “Evelyn…did you…?”

“I found your sister-in-law.” Evelyn smiled. “I mean, I did used to work for a communications technology giant. I still can’t believe your husband is okay with…” She gestured to herself and Helen. “…this, and I don’t think he likes me. But maybe he’ll dislike me less now.”

“I have to tell Bob,” Helen whispered. She pulled Evelyn close one last time. “Thank you.”

Evelyn squeezed Helen hard. “You’re welcome.”

Helen restrained herself from kissing Evelyn more and instead watched her get out of the car and drive away in her unremarkable pickup. She drove home, her heart pounding for multiple reasons, almost forgetting to stop by the family’s favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner so the Parrs wouldn’t have to wait for food thanks to her tardiness. Bob was in the kitchen when she got home; as she walked in, he looked up and smiled, eyebrows raised.

“Hi, honey. So I take it your date went well.”

“Evelyn found your sister,” Helen blurted out.

Bob’s eyebrows shot up even higher. “She found Katherine!? _How_!?”

“I’m not sure. DevTech _is_ a communications company.” Helen handed Bob the sheet of paper. “Katherine changed her name. She goes by Kit Purcell now.”

“No wonder I had trouble finding her.” Bob looked at the number. “This area code…she’s in Municiberg, or at least close! I have to call her!”

Helen almost told Bob he should eat first, but he hadn’t spoken to his sister in over thirty years. Instead, she called up the stairs: “Kids! Dinner!”

Dash was in his seat before the final syllable was out of her mouth, as usual, and Violet came trotting down the stairs holding Jack-Jack. “Hey, Mom. Where were you?” was the first thing out of Violet’s mouth. “Dad said that we should wait to hear it from you. Is it more hero stuff?”

Helen took Jack-Jack from Violet and placed him in his high chair, which had now been retrofitted by Edna Mode to withstand at least most of Jack-Jack’s powers. “Sort of,” said Helen vaguely.

“Yes! It’s really me! It’s Bobby!” Bob was practically shouting gleefully in the next room. Helen felt a smile turn up the corners of her lips; it sounded like Evelyn had found the right Katherine Parr.

“And…who’s Dad talking to? I thought we weren’t supposed to be on the phone during dinner,” said Violet slowly.

“Dad is talking to his sister,” said Helen, portioning out the food and steeling herself for Dash’s complaints about “all vegetables”.

“Aunt Katherine?” said Violet dubiously. “Who we never met because she ran away?” 

Dash stopped cramming egg rolls into his mouth for long enough to pay attention. “We have an Aunt Katherine?” he said through a mouthful.

Helen sighed. “Kids, please just eat your dinner. After we’re done eating, there are some things your father and I need to tell you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Hays code was a real thing that actually affected the film adaptation of _Rebecca_. It was in effect from 1930 to 1968. I also had to throw that in there because...well, Disney's queercoding of villains is backfiring spectacularly in a lot of cases and just making all of us queers hot for villains, but it's also messed up.
> 
> Next up, Helen trying to explain this to her kids. And a second date.


	8. Waiting for Heroes to Save the Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Parrs get a visitor. So does Evelyn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caveat lector: this chapter contains mention/brief description of corrective rape.
> 
> I have to stop watching so much SVU.

“So…” Violet said slowly, an expression of consternation on her face, “Mom…has a girlfriend.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know if it’s _that_ serious,” said Bob, scratching the back of his head.

“Whatever you want to call it, I’ve gone on at least one date with a woman, yes,” said Helen heavily.

“Because Mom…likes boys and girls,” Violet continued. “Even though Mom and Dad are staying together.”

“I’m still confused,” said Dash. “Are the bad guys trying to wreck Mom and Dad’s marriage again?”

“Dash, you’re so immature,” Violet sighed. “No, the Screenslaver isn’t the Screenslaver anymore, and she likes Mom.” She looked at her parents for confirmation. “Right?”

“That’s it, essentially,” said Helen, and Bob nodded.

“And we have an Aunt Katherine now?” said Dash.

“Yeah, why did you tell us she ran away before?” asked Violet. 

Helen touched Bob’s arm. “You want to take this one?”

Bob took a deep breath, as if steeling himself, and Helen squeezed his hand, remembering when he had avoided telling her that he had been fired and hoping Bob wouldn’t try to rationalize omitting difficult truths to their children.

“I should have told you the truth,” said Bob, and Helen relaxed. “I thought it was inappropriate for you kids to know about my sister being…uh…”

“Gay?” said Violet bluntly.

“Yes,” Bob sighed. “I thought it would be easier to understand for you if I said she ran away.”

“You didn’t think we might want to know that Grandma and Grandpa Parr were the kind of people who would kick their own kid out of the house?” Violet asked, anger creeping into her voice. 

Bob looked thrown and Helen felt her heart sink; neither of them had anticipated that particular question. “They thought that there was something terrible and unfixable wrong with their daughter,” said Bob. “It’s an excuse, not an explanation, and it was wrong, but…”

“But what?” Violet demanded. 

“I never thought it was right either,” Bob sighed. “But maybe we should wait to hear what Kath—Kit thinks about what happened before we pass judgment.”

Violet sniffed, but had no sardonic reply.

“Uh, why did you think it would be hard to understand that our aunt likes girls?” asked Dash. “It’s not that hard to understand. It’s easier than demicals.”

“Decimals,” said Helen and Bob together.

“Decimals,” Dash corrected himself. “So on Saturday nights, Mom is going to be still married to Dad, but going out with her girlfriend, who isn’t evil anymore?”

“It looks that way, yes,” said Helen, not entirely sure how to further clarify the situation to a ten-year-old. 

“So, do we get to meet our aunt now?” pressed Violet.

Bob brightened visibly. “She can’t wait to meet you. She’s coming to visit this Friday.”

-

Bob and Helen watched as Kit Purcell pulled up to the Parr residence in a dark green sedan, parked in the driveway, and somehow extracted her tall frame from the car. Helen’s first impression was that the resemblance between Bob and Kit was uncanny; Kit was narrower through the shoulders and wider through the hips than her brother, and her jaw line was softer, but she was tall and muscular with short dishwater blonde hair, and her eyes were nearly identical to Bob’s.

Kit’s finger had barely depressed the doorbell when Bob flung the door open. “Kit!”

“Bobby!” Kit threw her arms around her brother.

“Bob, _be careful_!” Helen yelled as Bob picked up his sister and swung her around. “She has normal ribs!”

Bob put his sister down. “Sorry! You okay?”

“I’m way better than okay!” said Kit with a grin that also reminded Helen almost eerily of Bob. “Oh my God, Bobby, you’re as big as a truck! What do you bench?”

“Probably a freight car,” said Helen, walking over.

“And you’re my sister-in-law, Helen, right?” said Kit, turning to Helen. “Do you hug?”

“I do hug,” said Helen, opening her arms and accepting a tight hug from her sister-in-law. “I made pasta salad. Why don’t you come in and meet the kids, and then we can all eat?”

“Sounds great,” said Kit. “Although, uh…what do they know about why I haven’t met them before?”

“We told them the truth,” said Helen.

Kit turned to Bob and quirked an eyebrow. “Really? You invented stories about ghosts eating all those baked goods that’d go mysteriously missing while Mom was at her sewing circle, and you told your kids that their aunt is gay?”

“Bob is trying to get better at telling the truth, even when it’s hard,” said Helen pointedly. Bob looked sheepish. “I should tell you about the time Bob got fired and didn’t tell me for _months_.”

“Ohh!” Kit’s eyebrows shot up. “You should hear some of the whoppers he tried to get away with when we were kids.”

“Hey! Standing right here!” said Bob.

Helen laughed, shaking her head. “Let’s introduce you to the kids, Kit.”

Bob closed the front door and Helen called out for Dash and Violet. “Kids! Aunt Kit’s here!”

Dash was downstairs and extending his hand to Kit to be shaken before Helen was finished speaking. “Hey! I’m Dash. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Dash has been working on being ‘charming’ lately,” said Helen with a chuckle as Kit shook Dash’s hand.

“Dash, we’re not superspies, we’re superheroes,” Violet sighed, walking into the foyer carrying Jack-Jack. “You’re trying to be the wrong stereotype.”

Helen took Jack-Jack from Violet, who looked warily at Kit. “I’m Violet, and I’ve never met a new family member before. So, do I hug you, or…”

“You can hug me if you want,” said Kit, and Violet gave her a quick squeeze. “So, Helen, you said something about pasta salad?”

“I did.” Helen rested a hand on Kit’s shoulder. “Welcome to the family.”

“That means you’ll have to eat your vegetables,” Dash informed Kit.

Kit chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

-

Helen couldn’t help but admire Evelyn’s cleverness in her choice of hiding spot; she had chosen a small cottage on the outskirts of Lake Estates with such an overgrown driveway that Evelyn had warned her that she ought to take her motorcycle, as it would be difficult to navigate with a normal car. As if Helen needed an excuse to ride the new Elasticycle.

Evelyn opened the door before just as Helen was walking up. “I’d ask if you were followed,” she said, “but I know you wouldn’t be here if you thought you were.”

“That’s a fine hello,” said Helen with a smile.

“Sorry, I’m not good at being sappy,” said Evelyn, matching Helen’s smile. “Want to come in?”

“I’d love to.” Helen walked inside, and Evelyn closed the door and wrapped Helen in a tight hug. “Okay, that’s a good hello.”

“Mmm.” Evelyn pressed her face into Helen’s neck. “I’ll say.”

Helen heard Evelyn stifle a moan as she passed a hand up and down Evelyn’s back. “Nice place you’ve got here,” said Helen, looking around, and she meant it. The interior had obviously been cleaned recently and then packed with clutter, mostly of the sort that Evelyn would have had in her lab back at DevTech: tools and supplies ranging from copper wire to what looked like generators. Helen guessed that she could only correctly identify about 30% of it.

“You can take the scientist out of the lab, and she’ll make a new one,” said Evelyn. “And I had to make your new bike. You should see how much crap I have in the garage.”

“I’d rather look at you,” said Helen, stepping back to cup Evelyn’s face in her hands. Her hair was combed but not pulled back, and she had chosen makeup that looked like a toned-down version of what she had been wearing when Helen had first met her. “You look nice today. And a little more like yourself.”

Evelyn’s cheeks turned pink. “Thanks. You look nice too, but you’d look amazing in a burlap sack.” Evelyn’s hands made fists in the fabric of Helen’s blouse, which was a dark shade of blue closer to sapphire than navy. “But this is also a nice color on you.”

“Thank you.” Helen tucked a few strands of Evelyn’s hair behind her ear. “So I brought dinner like you asked…but you said you can pay me back, so have access to money? Legally?” 

“Partially,” said Evelyn, “in that all the money that I have access to does belong to me.” She swallowed. “I’m sorry I can’t cook or take you out to dinner.”

“It’s okay. I’ve been curious about seeing this place.” Helen set down the satchel she had brought. “I got us an order of chicken tetrazzini to split.”

“Thanks.” Evelyn slipped an arm around Helen’s waist and kissed her shoulder. “I’m a little surprised your husband is okay with…well, I’m surprised his response to you wanting us to be together wasn’t to rip my head off, but I’m even more surprised that he was okay with you staying the night tonight. Did you tell him I’m too chickenshit to do more than kiss you? Because you’d be right.”

“You essentially gave him his sister back,” said Helen, taking the containers of food out of the satchel. “So he’s willing to give you some latitude. He wasn’t pleased, though. His exact words were ‘isn’t that kind of soon?' But our situation is pretty unusual.”

Evelyn went to a cabinet and retrieved its only contents: two large plates. “Next time, I’ll at least try to make dinner, but we should have a backup plan in case I blow something up.” She brought the plates to the table. “I can’t believe this is happening. I’m having dinner with a beautiful woman. This isn’t the kind of thing that happens to me.” 

“Dinner…and wine,” said Helen with a smile, pulling a bottle of cabernet from the satchel.

“Did you _remember_ that I was drinking cabernet the night that…” Evelyn stumbled over her words as she thought about a time before she had betrayed Helen. “The night you asked me about the believer and the cynic?”

“Yes,” said Helen, smiling. “I was already paying close attention to you.”

“Oh, for crying out loud…” Evelyn pressed her hands to her face. “I can feel myself blushing. I didn’t know I could blush before I met you.”

Helen leaned over and kissed Evelyn’s forehead. “I like it when you blush. It’s cute.”

“I wouldn’t have ever thought of trying to be ‘cute’ for the person I was…” Evelyn made a vague gesture. “…with. But I’ll take it.”

Helen chuckled. “Well, like it or not, you _are_ cute when you blush. Now let’s eat before the food gets cold.”

“And then I can kiss you more?” said Evelyn with a smile that Helen would almost have called “shy”.

“Sounds good to me,” said Helen, sitting down and pouring herself and Evelyn glasses of wine.

Later, Helen would wonder if Evelyn had bolted down her food quickly so they could get to the kisses sooner, but she couldn’t bring herself to mind as she listened to Evelyn’s low, soft noises in response to Helen’s teeth against her neck.

“Is this okay?” Helen murmured as she laid Evelyn down on the couch. Evelyn made a vaguely affirmative noise and wrapped her arms tightly around Helen, the fingers of one of her hands tangling in Helen’s hair. “Hey.” Helen sat up partway and kissed Evelyn’s forehead. “You said earlier that you just wanted kisses.”

“Then I had half a bottle of wine,” said Evelyn with a small smile, brushing a hand against Helen’s cheek.

“I know you’re new to all this. I don’t want to push you too fast,” Helen murmured.

Instead of replying verbally, Evelyn leaned up and kissed Helen again. Helen felt Evelyn shift beneath her, her thighs parting to cradle Helen’s hips. “You feel so good,” Evelyn sighed, her hands exploring Helen’s back, then lower.

Helen felt her face glow. “Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Evelyn whispered. “You have a great body. A gorgeous body. How do you not know that?”

Helen kissed Evelyn just below her ear. “You should be sweet more often. I like it when you’re sweet.”

“Then I guess I should drink more wine,” sighed Evelyn. 

Evelyn’s shirt had ridden up when Helen had laid her down, and Evelyn moaned as Helen softly brushed her fingertips over the exposed skin. “You have a nice body too,” Helen whispered, moving her hands to the buttons of Evelyn’s shirt.

Evelyn stiffened as she felt Helen start undoing the buttons; Helen moved her hands away, but Evelyn shot upright and shoved Helen, hard. “Stop it!”

“Evelyn, I’m sorry…” Helen reached for Evelyn’s face, only to have her hand slapped away.

“Leave me alone! Stop it, Danny!”

Helen felt that sickening sensation of a hand gripping her heart and squeezing. Superheroes didn’t always succeed in their hero work. Sometimes that meant seeing the bodies of their friends or the citizens they were trying to save; sometimes it meant capture or worse at the hands of a villain. Many superheroes had scars that weren’t immediately visible. Helen had seen the simultaneously terrified and faraway look on Evelyn’s face before.

“Evelyn, it’s okay,” said Helen in a voice that was equal parts gentle and firm. “You’re safe.”

Evelyn closed her eyes, but didn’t reply.

“Hang on,” said Helen, trying to remember what she knew about how to bring a person back from the kind of state Evelyn was in. She went to the kitchen and returned with a glass of water, which she carefully pressed into Evelyn’s hand. “Try to drink this.”

Evelyn looked blankly at the glass in her hand for a moment before taking a small drink.

“There you go,” said Helen, sliding a hand up and down Evelyn’s back. “Try to take deep breaths.”

Evelyn drained the rest of the glass, set it down on a nearby table, and tried to follow Helen’s advice, her shallow, trembling breaths slowly returning to normal. Helen gathered Evelyn into her arms. “Where did you go just now? And who is Danny?”

Evelyn pressed her face to Helen’s shoulder. “High school. And…I guess now you’re about to find out the other reason I wanted supers to be illegal.”

“The other reason?” Helen repeated. “Was Danny…a super?” she probed, and Evelyn shook her head.

“No. Danny Berringer was just some guy in high school who was into me.” Evelyn managed a fairly deep breath. “There were a lot of open secrets in high school. As much as I tried to pretend to be normal, a lot of people knew I was different, and there were a lot of right guesses about the nature of that difference. Another open secret was that this kid two years older than me—Jerry Hanson—was a super. I’m not sure what his powers were, and I don’t really care.” Evelyn wrung her hands. “When Danny asked me out, I said yes, because I didn’t want anyone to know about me. And I thought I could make myself normal. Long story short, I was stupid. I ended up in Danny’s car with him, and I ended up screaming for help a lot louder than I yelled at you for doing the same thing: starting to undress me. Jerry, or whatever the fuck his super name was, heard me screaming and showed up, super suit and all. I thought he was going to stop Danny from raping me, but when Jerry saw it was me, he just winked at Danny and left.” Evelyn made a noise that could have been a laugh or a sob. “And then when I next saw Jerry at school, the asshole had the nerve to ask me if Danny had ‘fixed’ me.”

Helen hugged Evelyn tightly and kissed her hair. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“I tried to forget about it, at first,” Evelyn continued. “I did a pretty good job forgetting. I didn’t even tell anyone, because I had gotten into the car, right? I thought it was my fault. And then when Dad was killed…God, it all came flooding back. I blamed Dad the same way I blamed myself. And why trust supers? They’re just people. People who can be homophobic fuckheads who think that you can rape the gay out of someone.” 

“Evelyn…” Helen whispered, giving a backhanded caress to Evelyn’s cheek. “So that’s why you panicked when I started on your buttons?”

“Yeah. Didn’t know that would make me panic…sorry.” Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut, a few tears dripping down her face. “And it’s why I was as…as upset as I was when I found out that you didn’t mean your ‘yes’ when I had you hypnotized. The thought of doing to you what happened to me…” Evelyn shuddered. “Do you ever have nightmares about it?”

Helen’s brow furrowed. “I don’t think I’ve ever had any kind of dream about being hypnotized.”

“I hoped not,” Evelyn whispered. “The hypnosis didn’t involve any theta waves, but I was still afraid that alpha wave induction would mean some dreaming during stage one sleep…”

“You haven’t given me any nightmares,” Helen soothed. “Although I am curious about what happened between us that night. What I didn’t see on the tape.”

“Well, I destroyed that tape.”

“Why don’t you tell me about it, and then I can tell you for sure that what you did to me and what Danny did do you weren’t the same?” 

Evelyn sighed. “Okay. I guess I can’t get any more upset.”

Helen kissed Evelyn’s forehead. “Take your time.”

Evelyn was quiet for a long moment while Helen caressed her hair. “We were in my lab, kissing. I had an air mattress in there for when I was working late and couldn’t bring myself to shamble back to my actual room. I took my clothes off and you wrapped your arms around me a bunch of times, and then you put me down on the mattress and kissed me all over.” Evelyn bit her lower lip. “It felt really good. It seemed like you were into it. You weren’t just being…mechanical about it, and I never actually told you to have sex with me. I think…I think the hypnosis was supposed to make you do anything I wanted, but I didn’t have to actually direct you to do something for you to figure out I wanted it.” Evelyn swallowed, fighting back tears again. “And…God, I wanted you.”

“Go on,” Helen encouraged.

“You, uh…you went down on me. And you were really, really good at it. I remember wondering what other women you’d slept with to be so good at it.” Evelyn blushed. “Goddammit, I shouldn’t be enjoying remembering this.”

Helen kissed the top of Evelyn’s head. “Knowing that makes me worry less about how clueless I’ll be the next time we sleep together.”

“And then once I could move again, I kissed you all over like you did for me. Then you, uh, you actually took my hand and moved it between your legs. You seemed to really like having my whole hand inside you. I was scared I was hurting you, but when I asked if it hurt, you kept saying no.”

“Hmm, that does sound like fun,” Helen mused. “And no, it wouldn’t hurt me. Not with my powers. Evelyn…honey, it sounds like what happened between us was nothing like what Danny Berringer did to you.” She leaned down and kissed Evelyn gently. “And I’ve already said that I forgive you.” Helen stood up, carrying Evelyn bridal style. “Now I think I still owe you a backrub. How does that sound?”

“Good,” whispered Evelyn.

Helen carried Evelyn to her bedroom and laid her down on the bed. “Why don’t you get comfortable?”

Evelyn lay down on her stomach with her head on the pillow. “You can take my shirt off if you want. Just no undoing buttons.”

“Maybe you could do it,” Helen suggested. “Did you know that me undoing your buttons would make you panic?”

“No, I thought it’d be okay because it was you, so…yeah, maybe I should do it.” Evelyn pulled her shirt off, revealing that she was wearing a light, loose-fitting undershirt with thin straps. Helen moved closer and rested her hands on Evelyn’s shoulders, pressing gently. “Mmm…I love your hands.”

“Is that too hard?” Helen asked, adding more pressure.

“No. It’s nice.”

Helen rubbed circles on Evelyn’s shoulders at the base of her neck, earning a low moan in response. She wasn’t used to being so gentle when giving backrubs, but as she continued to stroke and knead Evelyn’s back, Evelyn didn’t complain or make any noise that didn’t sound like it was motivated by anything but complete bliss.

“We should be timing this,” Evelyn mumbled.

“Timing it? Why?”

“To see how long it would take to put me to sleep. As an experiment. You’d have to take notes.”

“Notes?” Helen laughed.

“Yeah. Notes. Only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.” Evelyn look up, her cheeks visibly pink. “And by ‘screwing around’, I don’t mean…”

“I know.” Helen leaned over and kissed Evelyn’s shoulder.

“Aren’t your hands tired by now?”

“No, my muscles have an unusual amount of stamina. So you get a very long backrub.”

Evelyn sighed. “Not that I’m not very much on board with the idea of a long backrub, but…I kind of want you to hold me now.”

Helen lay down beside Evelyn, who draped an arm around Helen’s waist and tucked her head under her chin. “Mmm…”

Helen wound both her arms around Evelyn twice. “You feeling better?”

“Yeah. Might have a little trouble falling asleep, even with you here, because of the adrenaline spike that accompanies the kind of freak-out I had today. But I’m going to really enjoy this while I try to fall asleep.”

“So you aren’t going to change into your pajamas?” Helen teased.

“No. I’m going to stay right here with you all night.” Evelyn kissed the center of Helen’s chest. “Hey…so you said I essentially gave Bob his sister back. So he was able to get in touch with her?”

“She came to the house for dinner yesterday. She even brought gifts for the kids. I can show you some Polaroids when you’re done holding on to me.”

“Yeah, that’s going to be a while.” Evelyn tightened her arms around Helen.

“Thank you,” Helen murmured. “Bob was overjoyed to see his sister again. And the kids are happy to have an aunt…even though they weren’t too pleased with us for not telling them the truth about Katherine, especially Violet.”

“So is Kit…okay? After being kicked out?”

“She seems to be doing well,” said Helen. “After her parents kicked her out, she went to stay with a friend from high school who had already been in college for a few years and had her own apartment. She got a job waitressing and put herself through technical school. She’s an electrician now.”

“An electrician? Huh. Good for her.” Evelyn paused. “So Kit isn’t a super?” 

“No. Bob’s mom has kinesthesia and advanced reflexes, but neither Bob’s dad nor Kit has powers. So when we thought Jack-Jack didn’t have powers, we weren’t too surprised.”

“I wonder how the genetics of that works,” Evelyn mused, and Helen laughed. 

“You’re such a scientist.” She kissed Evelyn’s hair fondly.

“Hey, how about more kisses instead of teasing?”

“Just kisses?”

Evelyn didn’t reply immediately. “I, uh. I’m not sure. Just kisses for tonight.”

“If it always has to be just kisses, that’s okay,” Helen murmured.

Evelyn pressed her face against Helen’s throat. “We can try for, uh, more than kisses tomorrow if that’s okay with you.”

“I’m only okay with what you’re comfortable with,” said Helen gently.

Evelyn sighed. “Why are you so… _nice_?” She paused. “I still keep thinking I’m going to open my eyes and this will be a really good dream. I mean, you’re married, and you freaked out when you found out you might have cheated on your husband.”

“The key part of cheating is your partner isn’t okay with it, and I hadn’t discussed it with Bob,” noted Helen. “This was something we both thought might come up when we got married; a lot of supers are polyamorous.”

“Huh, really?” Evelyn considered that. “Is that because you couldn’t date civilians because of the whole…secret identity thing? Or because some of you would literally break a normal person if you so much as hugged them?”

“Both,” said Helen, chuckling. “It often makes the most sense for us to date other supers, so we don’t have a lot of options.”

“Well, whatever the reason, I’m glad.” Evelyn shifted so her lips were near Helen’s neck and kissed the soft skin. “I’d still like more kisses. And…can you be on top of me again? That was nice.”

Helen carefully eased Evelyn onto her back, resting her weight on Evelyn’s hips. Evelyn laid her head back, a soft cry escaping her throat, and Helen leaned down to kiss her neck. “This okay?”

“I like it when you ask me that,” Evelyn whispered. “Makes me feel safe.”

“That’s good,” said Helen in a hushed voice. “You want me to stick to kissing your face and your neck tonight?”

“Yes, but you can do those things all you want.” Evelyn’s voice was almost a moan.

“Okay,” Helen murmured, and it was a long time before either of them spoke again.

A long while later, Evelyn whimpered, “Can we stop?”

“Everything all right?” Helen sat up.

“Sort of. I really want you to keep kissing me, but I have to use the bathroom.” Evelyn made a frustrated noise. “Bodies are so inconvenient.”

Helen laughed and kissed Evelyn’s forehead. “Go ahead. Why don’t we get ready for bed?”

“Okay.”

Evelyn went to the restroom, changed into her pajamas, and brushed her teeth and hair. She emerged from the bathroom and received a quick kiss from Helen, who went into the bathroom to change to her pajamas while Evelyn lay in bed, mentally kicking herself for spoiling the mood.

“Hey.” Helen climbed into bed beside her. “Everything okay?”

“I never thought about needing to pee ruining a romantic mood,” Evelyn grumbled, and Helen laughed.

“The thing about romance—and sex, and related things—is that it can be silly, or interrupted by things like needing to pee, or a bird flying into the window, or your kids making a noise that sounds like trouble in the next room.”

“Good to know it’s not just me,” Evelyn sighed, holding her arms out to Helen.

“No, it’s not.” Helen accepted Evelyn’s embrace and kissed her softly. “Ready to sleep?”

“Yeah.” Evelyn rested her forehead against Helen’s. “I don’t know if I can fall asleep with you holding me. I want to, but it’s kind of an unfamiliar feeling…”

“How about we hold hands?” Helen suggested.

Evelyn smiled. “I’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did I decide to name my chapters after Evelyn quotes?? I am running out of them fast.


	9. True Experience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'll just come right out and say it: most of this chapter is smut. If that's not your thing, you can read the very end of the chapter after the page break.

Helen was standing at the sink, dressed in a white bathrobe, washing out a coffee mug when Evelyn shambled into the kitchen. The coffee Helen had set to brew a little while ago was almost done; Evelyn watched as the last few drops of rich dark liquid fell into the carafe.

“You made coffee,” said Evelyn. “My goddess,” she added in a deadpan voice, and Helen chuckled.

“How could I not, knowing you?”

Evelyn crossed to wrap her arms around Helen and kiss her shoulder, resting her head between the other woman’s shoulder blades for a moment and taking deep breaths. “You smell good,” Evelyn mumbled. “You always smell good.” 

“I see you’re getting better at being sweet when you’re sober,” Helen laughed.

“Helen…” Evelyn let her hands roam Helen’s body, feeling the slope of her waist, the weight of a breast, the generous curve of a hip.

“Mmm,” Helen sighed. 

“This okay?” Evelyn murmured, echoing her favorite question from Helen.

“Yeah.” Helen’s head tilted back. “It’s nice. You really want to get into foreplay before coffee, though?”

Evelyn stopped what she was doing, which was gently kneading one of Helen’s breasts. She absolutely wanted Helen in her bed that morning, but she also didn’t want to spoil things by getting a caffeine withdrawal headache. “Okay, but only so my head doesn’t start killing me.”

Helen dropped a quick kiss on Evelyn’s forehead and stood aside while Evelyn served herself coffee, then poured her own. “You drink it black?” Helen asked, gesturing at Evelyn’s cup.

“Sometimes,” said Evelyn. “Not usually.”

“It’s too hot to bolt down,” said Helen with a small smile. “I think you have time for cream and sugar.”

“Right,” Evelyn mumbled, feeling her cheeks redden. Helen proffered the jug of cream and Evelyn poured a small amount into her cup.

“Hey.” Helen brushed a hand against Evelyn’s cheek. “You are one nervous lady. Want to tell me about it?”

Evelyn set her mug down on the counter and found herself folded into a warm embrace from Helen. The other woman caressed her hair, and Evelyn bit back a noise that was almost a whimper. “No one’s ever been this…gentle…with me.” Evelyn paused for a long while; Helen waited. “You’re going to be my first. For real, I mean.”

“I know.”

“I’m not used to doing things I don’t know how to do,” Evelyn blurted out. “I invent technology. I’m good at that. I don’t interact with people, or kiss them…or have sex with them…or tell them how I feel about them.” She paused. “Or…or feel things like I feel for you.”

Helen slowly passed a hand up and down Evelyn’s back. Evelyn’s eyes fluttered shut.

“It’s okay,” Helen soothed. “I remember being nervous my first time. And I’ve never done this with a woman—that I remember—so I’m new to it too.”

“But what if I can’t—“

“It takes practice, but it can be instinctive, too,” said Helen. “Relax. Don’t think too hard. I’ll help you.” 

Helen and Evelyn sat down at the table, and Evelyn finished her coffee. Helen sat close, one hand resting on the nape of Evelyn’s neck. “Should I brush my teeth so I’m not kissing you with coffee breath?” Evelyn asked.

Helen chuckled. “Honey, it’s _you_. I’m used to coffee breath.” She gathered Evelyn close, cradling the back of her head in one hand, and kissed her.

A few minutes later, Helen laid Evelyn down on the bed Evelyn had been using. “You sure about this?” Helen murmured, settling her weight against Evelyn’s hips.

Evelyn shifted beneath her lover, parting her thighs to make room for Helen. “I’m sure. This is going to be my first time having real sex with a fully aware person, and I’m glad it’s with you.” She closed her eyes tightly. “Except I don’t want to think about…last time.”

Helen kissed Evelyn’s cheek. “Anything else you want to make sure you don’t think about? I know you can’t do having the buttons on your shirt undone.”

Evelyn swallowed. “I’m going to have to take my own clothes off. And don’t ever forcefully put anything over my mouth. Aside from that…as long as you’re gentle, I think I’ll be okay.”

Helen passed her hands over Evelyn’s thighs. “I think I can handle that.”

Evelyn moaned at the sensation of Helen touching her. “Speaking of taking my own clothes off, I’m going to do that now.” She wrestled her nightgown off, leaving herself bare. Helen leaned over and kissed her between her collarbones.

“You’re beautiful,” Helen whispered. She shrugged her robe off and Evelyn reached up to clutch her hard with both her arms and legs.

“So are you,” Evelyn mumbled against Helen’s shoulder. “You feel amazing.”

Helen chuckled. “I’m not doing anything.”

“Holding you feels amazing.” Almost shyly, Evelyn traced Helen’s spine and shoulder blades with one palm. “I mean, I already knew holding you felt amazing. I didn’t know how amazing holding you when we were both naked would be.”

A smile curled Helen’s lips. She had never deflowered anyone before, and she couldn’t help but find Evelyn’s introduction to the numerous smaller experiences involved in sex adorable. She kissed Evelyn’s hair. “That’s good, but I also want to kiss and touch you all over, and I think you’d like that too.”

Evelyn closed her eyes, and when she spoke, her voice shook. “I would definitely like that.”

Evelyn let go of Helen with her arms, but not her legs. She kept her thighs wrapped tightly around Helen’s waist as Helen kissed her throat and shoulders, and she whimpered as Helen’s lips met her right breast. “Helen!”

“You all right?” Helen murmured, looking up at Evelyn.

“I’m all right,” Evelyn panted. “I’ll tell you if I’m not. Or maybe panic. I hope I don’t panic.”

“Not panicking would be good,” Helen agreed. She lowered her head to Evelyn’s chest and softly kissed one of her nipples. Evelyn cried out.

“Ohhh, I like being kissed there!”

Helen cupped Evelyn’s other breast in one hand. She squeezed lightly, sliding her fingers upward until she was gently rolling the nipple between her fingertips. “Is that good?”

“You playing with my breasts is good. Always good. I’m going to renounce communication technology and learn to clone people so I can always have at least one of you playing with my breasts at all times,” Evelyn gasped.

Helen chuckled. “Well, okay.” Helen went back to carefully stimulating Evelyn’s nipples with her lips, tongue, and fingertips, closing her eyes to savor Evelyn’s low, almost musical moaning noises.

“Ohhh, Helen…” Evelyn’s hips flexed upward, searching desperately for contact. 

“You want more?”

“Yes,” Evelyn groaned. “Please. Can you lie down on your back? I have an idea.”

Helen did. “If you’re planning to sit on my face, try not to suffocate me.” She smirked. “Not a bad way to go, though.”

Instead of replying to that, Evelyn straddled one of Helen’s thighs, squeezing the firm flesh between her legs. “Oh, Helen…”

“Oh, so that’s what you like?” Helen bent her leg to give Evelyn a better angle. Evelyn gripped Helen’s leg hard, grinding hungrily against her lover’s thigh. Helen caressed the tense muscles of Evelyn’s back. “Relax, honey. You don’t have to work so hard.” 

“I love your thighs,” Evelyn moaned. “You have the most beautiful thighs I’ve ever seen. I wish I could look at your face, though…”

Helen stretched her upper body so she could easily look into Evelyn’s eyes, brushing the back of one hand down Evelyn’s cheek. “Who do you’re think you’re sleeping with?”

“Oh, right,” Evelyn whimpered. “Helen, kiss me!”

Helen cradled Evelyn’s face in her hands and kissed her warmly. Evelyn’s hands clutched at Helen’s shoulders, her helpless cries stifled by Helen’s kisses. “I like kissing you,” Helen whispered between kisses, “but I like hearing you moan, too.”

“You’re going to hear that regardless!” Evelyn panted. She laid her head down on Helen’s shoulder; Helen cradled the back of her head in one hand, stroking her hair. “F-fuck…Helen…”

“Are you going to come for me, sweetie?” Helen crooned into Evelyn’s ear.

“Oh, yes, I’m so close,” Evelyn groaned. “You feel so good…Helen… _ohhh_ …”

Helen felt Evelyn’s inner thighs quake and heard her cry out, loudly and wordlessly, as pleasure overtook her. Helen softly kissed her neck and her shoulder as Evelyn strained through her orgasm, clutching Helen and whimpering.

“Are you okay?” Helen murmured, pulling herself into her default shape to gather Evelyn into her lap.

“Yeah,” Evelyn got out after a moment. “It was a lot. Really intense.”

Helen ran her fingers through Evelyn’s hair. “You’re all sweaty.”

“Hey, I don’t have a lot of stamina yet,” said Evelyn with a drowsy smile. “Give me time.”

“Oh, I will.” Helen gave her lover a quick squeeze. “Is there anything else you want to try?”

“Mmm.” Evelyn’s head lolled against Helen’s shoulder. “You know how much I like your hands,” she whispered. “I was scared, before, that having anything inside me would hurt, but…” Evelyn took one of Helen’s hands and held it to her cheek. “I don’t think it would hurt. With you.” Evelyn huffed out a long breath. “But I need to rest first.”

“Okay.” Helen gently lowered Evelyn to the mattress and lay down beside her, their foreheads touching. Helen reached over to softly trace the curve of Evelyn’s thigh to her waist.

“I love when you touch me,” Evelyn sighed.

Helen laughed. “I’m barely doing anything.”

“Anything you can do that makes me feel close to you? I love that.”

“You big softie,” Helen teased. 

“Oh, shut up,” Evelyn mumbled, nuzzling close to Helen. “No teasing. More kisses instead.”

Helen caressed the back of Evelyn’s neck as she leaned down to press her lips to Evelyn’s. Evelyn draped one leg over Helen’s hip and hitched their bodies closer together, unable to suppress her whimpering noises as Helen stroked the sensitive skin of her neck and gave her kiss after slow, deep, insistent kiss.

“This okay?” Helen murmured against Evelyn’s mouth as her hand moved to palm and massage one of Evelyn’s breasts.

“God…yes…can you use your mouth again too?”

“I’d love to,” Helen murmured, easing Evelyn onto her back so she could easily stimulate both of Evelyn’s breasts, suckling tenderly at one nipple and teasing the other with her fingertips.

“ _Mmm…_ ” Evelyn gripped Helen’s shoulders. “Oh, Helen, it’s almost too much, but it feels so good!”

“It can be a lot to get used to at first,” said Helen softly. “And orgasm can make you more sensitive. Do you need me to slow down?”

Evelyn licked her lips. “Can you try putting your fingers in me?”

“Well, that is very much not slowing down,” said Helen with a small smile. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

Helen brushed a hand against Evelyn’s inner thigh and felt Evelyn’s legs move farther apart. “Do you think two fingers is too much?”

“Should be okay,” Evelyn whispered. 

Helen carefully traced Evelyn’s slit with her fingertips. “Okay. Take a deep breath in.”

Evelyn did.

“Now let it out,” Helen instructed softly, sliding two tightly crossed fingers into her lover.

Evelyn’s breath came out as a tremulous moan. She tilted her hips, trying to push Helen’s fingers in deeper. “ _Ohhh_ …Helen…”

Helen frowned as she watched Evelyn’s eyes close and a few tears drip down her cheeks. “Am I hurting you? Do you need me to stop?” 

“No. Please don’t stop.” Evelyn brushed her tears away. “It doesn’t hurt. It feels good. It feels…right.”

Helen kissed Evelyn’s forehead as she began slowly sliding her fingers back and forth, angling her hand so one fingertip pressed against Evelyn’s G-spot with each caress. “How does that feel?”

“ _Mmmm…_ ” Evelyn’s hips rocked in time with Helen’s strokes. “Ohh…yes…just like that…”

“I guess that’s my answer,” said Helen, smiling.

Evelyn leaned up and kissed Helen hard, moaning against her lover’s mouth, her hands making fists in the sheets. Helen continued her gentle, steady ministrations until Evelyn stopped kissing her long enough to beg for her to go faster. Helen kissed the center of her lover’s chest and ratcheted up the pace of her hand slightly, earning a cry of euphoria from Evelyn. “God…Helen…!”

“Relax, sweetie,” Helen soothed. “Relax and let it happen.”

Evelyn arched off the bed, a noise that was almost a scream escaping her throat. Helen kissed Evelyn’s hair as she tenderly eased her through her orgasm. “Helen…” Evelyn blinked back tears again.

“I’m here.” Helen took Evelyn in her arms.

Evelyn nestled close to Helen, draping both one arm and one leg over her lover. “Hand. Superpowers. Admit it.”

“I think I already did,” Helen chuckled. 

“Nah, you admitted you had…um…hell…what are words…hand-massaging superpowers. More specific.”

“Oh, well, okay then.” Helen threaded one hand through Evelyn’s sweat-damp hair. “Are you tired?”

“Not too tired to return the favor.” She tried to sit up, but fell back down to the mattress.

“You sure about that?” Helen queried.

“Give me a few minutes.” Evelyn kissed Helen’s shoulder.

Helen trailed her fingertips up and down Evelyn’s back. “You don’t have to.”

“I want to,” Evelyn mumbled. “Pretty sure I won’t be as good at it as you. But I want to try.”

“You can certainly do that,” said Helen warmly, stretching her arm so she could caress Evelyn from her shoulders down to her calves. Evelyn sighed contentedly.

“This is nice. I maintain that it’s strange that you can stretch like that, but I guess that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”

“I’m so glad you’ve come around to thinking that,” Helen laughed, but she sobered quickly. “Are you doing okay? No bad memories?”

“I’m all right. I was a little afraid that kissing you while you were inside me would make me freak out, but it didn’t. Probably because I kissed you, not the other way around.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Helen traced patterns on the bare skin of Evelyn’s back. “So how did you get the idea to grind on my leg like that?”

“Oh, just…something I used to try really hard not to think about doing when I first saw you on your Elasticycle,” Evelyn muttered, sounding embarrassed.

Helen burst into laughter. “So that was why you made me a new bike—or rather, two new bikes. You had an ulterior motive.”

“Hey, looking at you on your bike was only about…eight percent of why I made you a new one!” Evelyn insisted.

“Eight percent? How specific,” Helen laughed.

“Will you stop teasing me if I go down on you?” said Evelyn, sitting up and managing to stay upright this time.

Helen gave Evelyn a quick kiss. “Sounds good to me.” 

“I want to kiss more you first, though. Starting with your neck.” Evelyn draped herself over Helen the way Helen had done for her. “Am I putting too much weight on you?”

“No.” Helen cupped Evelyn’s face in her hands. “But about those kisses…”

In response, Evelyn leaned down to leave a line of soft, almost timid kisses from under Helen’s ear to her collarbone. She hesitated a little before lowering her head to Helen’s chest, covering the delicate skin with tiny kisses.

“You don’t have to be that gentle,” Helen whispered.

“Right. Okay. I just…I…”

“It’s okay, Evelyn," Helen soothed. "I trust you.”

Evelyn nodded, and Helen gathered Evelyn’s hair behind her head as Evelyn resumed her kisses, a little more boldly this time. She circled one of Helen’s nipples with the tip of her tongue, and Helen sighed.

“Is that better?”

“Mmm…yes.”

Evelyn went back to playing with Helen’s breasts, taking one nipple into her mouth and caressing it with her tongue. Helen moaned softly. “That feels good.”

Evelyn made a small affirmative noise without lifting her head. She tried to take Helen’s other breast in one hand the way Helen had done for her, but had trouble coordinating the actions of her hand and mouth. “I thought you said you had never done this with a woman before,” said Evelyn. “How did you do such a good job doing this for me?”

“Just coordinated, I guess,” said Helen. She stroked Evelyn’s cheek. “You’re doing fine. You’re doing so fine that I’d rather you keep going.”

Evelyn nodded. She gave up on using her hands and instead tried to focus on working her lover’s nipples with her mouth; she was rewarded with soft cries from Helen. “Evelyn…sweetie…”

“You want more?” Evelyn asked. Her voice came out husky but still trembling with nerves.

“That would be nice.”

Helen kept both hands tangled in Evelyn’s hair as Evelyn kissed her way down the flat plane of Helen’s stomach, taking a slight detour to nuzzle and kiss Helen’s inner thigh. “I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing,” Evelyn confessed.

“You don’t have to do this,” Helen murmured.

“I want to.” Evelyn kissed Helen just above her opening, earning a little gasp in response. “I just…I’m nervous I won’t do it right.”

“I have confidence in you, honey, but I’d appreciate it if you—” Helen’s voice dissolved into a moan as she felt Evelyn’s soft tongue against exquisitely sensitive skin, then rose to a cry of mingled pleasure and surprise as she felt Evelyn’s lips close over her clit. “Ohhh, that’s nice.”

Evelyn hooked her arms under Helen’s thighs, her fingers digging into the firm muscles as she enthusiastically laved her tongue over the swollen pearl of flesh in her mouth. Helen was less vocal than Evelyn had been, but Evelyn loved hearing Helen’s low, breathy cries, especially if they involved her name.

“Evelyn…honey…” Helen gasped wordlessly, her shaking hands pushing through Evelyn’s hair. Evelyn could feel Helen’s body trembling and continued to lick and suckle at her lover’s clit until Helen lay still. “Thank you.” Helen’s voice was barely above a whisper.

Evelyn lay down beside Helen and kissed her hair. “Back at you.”

Helen’s limbs had relaxed to the point that they were longer than usual; she stretched them out even more and wrapped them multiple times around Evelyn, who buried her face in Helen’s hair. “You’re a very, very fast learner,” Helen sighed.

“You need me to do more for you?” Evelyn probed.

“Oh, I could keep going. But I’m plenty satisfied.” She gave Evelyn a quick squeeze. “I also don’t want to ask so much of you during your first time.”

“I could go down on you for hours,” Evelyn demurred, “but you know how much you like it when you hold me.”

“Hours, huh? We should time that sometime,” said Helen in a voice that made Evelyn tremble in a way that was completely unrelated to nervousness. “For science.”

Evelyn licked her lips. “That sounds like an _excellent_ experiment.”

Helen and Evelyn lay entwined on the bed for a while, dozing, until Evelyn’s caffeine addiction made itself known again. “I’m sorry,” Evelyn groaned as Helen unwrapped her arms from her. “I need at least two or three cups in the morning.”

“That’s fine,” Helen assured her with a quick kiss. “I’ll get into the shower.”

“Oh, yeah, shower,” said Evelyn. “Good idea. And use the toilet; urination after sex decreases the chance of developing a UTI.”

Helen burst out laughing. “How romantic. You are such a _scientist_.”

Evelyn gave her a lopsided smile. “Yeah, I’m a scientist. Get used to it.”

Helen took a quick shower and brushed her teeth, and when she emerged from the bathroom, Evelyn was standing at the kitchen stove, scrambling eggs. 

“I thought you said you didn’t know how to cook,” said Helen, walking to stand behind Evelyn and kiss her cheek.

“There are a couple of exceptions, and scrambled eggs is one of them,” said Evelyn. “Now stop kissing me or I’ll get distracted and they’ll burn.”

Helen smiled. “Okay.” Having made more scrambled eggs for her family than the average breakfast restaurant, Helen cast a critical eye at the pan. “They look nice and fluffy. Did you use milk?”

“Half a tablespoon per egg, yeah.”

“You measure the milk?”

Evelyn looked quizzically at Helen. “You don’t?”

“You even cook like a scientist,” said Helen, shaking her head good-naturedly. “I bet if you tried more, you could learn.”

“You’d think recipes would be like lab protocols, but it seems like I always burn stuff or undercook it,” said Evelyn, sliding the finished eggs onto two plates. 

“That can take practice, and depends on the stove,” said Helen. “Maybe I could teach you.”

Evelyn smiled. “I’d like that.”

Helen sat down to eat, and Evelyn poured herself another cup of coffee. “How much coffee do you drink?” 

“At least there’s no whiskey in it,” said Evelyn with a grim smile.

Helen quirked an eyebrow. “Should I be concerned about that sentence?”

Evelyn shrugged. “Sometimes the world is easier to look at if it’s blurry around the edges.”

Helen considered some of the experiences Evelyn had had and decided that that made sense in a disquieting way. She reached over and brushed the back of one hand down Evelyn’s cheek; Evelyn turned her head and kissed Helen’s palm. “I should finish eating so I can shower. I know you have to get back to your family.”

“Okay.” Helen took a bite of her eggs. “These turned out well.”

Evelyn took a bite of hers and blushed darkly. “I, uh. I could say something, but I don’t think I should.”

“What were you thinking of saying?”

Evelyn’s blush deepened. “That the eggs are pretty good, but not my favorite thing I’ve eaten this morning.”

Helen burst into laughter. “I guess I should take that as a compliment.”

Evelyn covered her face with her hands. “I’m not used to talking about sex, or being comfortable thinking about sex…or having sex…”

“We’ll have to work on that,” said Helen, still laughing.

Evelyn wrapped her hands around hanks of her hair. “I think it’s because of what happened in high school. Thinking about sex meant thinking about what Danny did to me.”

“We’ll definitely have to work on that,” said Helen, her voice gentle. She gave a quick squeeze to Evelyn’s shoulder, and Evelyn smiled weakly.

“It might not be easy.”

“We’ll manage,” Helen assured her.

-

Helen still felt vaguely like she was walking on air as she entered the Deavor-owned house that was slowly starting to feel more like it deserved the title “Parr residence”. She hung up her jacket in the front closet, wondering if she should call Evelyn; Evelyn had hugged and kissed her goodbye with that same desperation Helen remembered from their first kiss, and Helen was only now realizing that Evelyn’s tone when she asked “So I’ll see you next Saturday?” had been too casual to be sincere. Helen wasn’t entirely sure why Evelyn was still nervous about whether or not Helen was invested in their relationship, but if she needed reassurance…

“Helen?” Bob called from the kitchen.

“Hi, honey!” Helen said back, walking into the kitchen to greet Bob with a hug and kiss. “Is there still some orange juice left? Evelyn didn’t have any.”

“There’s some, but we’re low. I put it on the grocery list.”

“I’ll save it for the kids, then,” said Helen. “Vi’s at the park with Tony, right? Where are Dash and Jack-Jack?”

“They’re upstairs. I haven’t heard screaming in at least twenty minutes.”

“That’s got to be some kind of record,” Helen chuckled. “Evelyn would probably say we should time how long it takes for Jack-Jack to make one of us scream.”

“So, uh…” Bob cleared his throat. “You and Evelyn. You stayed the night.”

On the surface, that was a statement, but Helen knew perfectly well that Bob was asking a question. “We’re both adults. And Evelyn…” Helen paused, not sure she should give away personal information about Evelyn, but Bob was her husband. She told him everything. “I wanted to give her some memories about sex that weren’t either fraught or terrible. She had a…bad experience in high school, and then she hadn’t so much has dated anyone since.”

“What do you mean, ‘a bad experience’?” asked Bob guardedly.

Helen sighed. “I mean she was raped by a boy who thought he could turn her straight, and a super who went to her school saw it happening and deliberately didn’t help her because he also thought it would turn her straight.”

“A _super_ did that!?” Bob shouted. “Who!?”

“She didn’t know his superhero name,” said Helen. “His wallet name was Jerry Hanson.”

“Jerry Hanson…” Bob’s brow furrowed. “Not ringing a bell.”

“I hope someone like that didn’t go into crime-fighting,” said Helen, shaking her head. “I should probably call Evelyn later this week. I accidentally reminded her of the rape and she panicked. Who knows if bad memories will keep coming back.”

Bob was quiet. “You usually see that kind of thing in supers, not villains, but…you might want to call her.”

As if on cue, the phone rang. Helen picked it up, half expecting to hear Evelyn’s voice. “Parr residence.”

“Hey, is that Helen?” said a vaguely familiar voice. “It’s Kit.”

Helen blinked in surprise. “Oh, hi, Kit! Did you want to talk to Bob?”

“Actually, I was hoping to get ahold of you. I forgot to mention something on Friday; I’m just getting this group for Sapphic women going. I would say it’s a support group, but that sounds like it’s AA. It’s more like a book club, except we talk about gay stuff.”

Helen laughed, in part because it was strange to hear such topics spoken about so openly and in part because of the AA comment. “And you were wondering if I’d like to join?”

“You and your lady,” said Kit. “If she’s interested.”

Helen chewed her lower lip; she had shared with Kit that she was seeing a woman in addition to being married to Bob, but had neglected to mention that said woman was a former supervillain. “She’s kind of a…homebody. But I’ll talk to her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't just introduce Kit for a few paragraphs and not bring her back.


	10. Superheroes Make Us Weak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visit to Kit's and several unexpected encounters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CAVEAT LECTOR: discussion of rape, homophobia, and suicidal ideation.
> 
> What, you thought I was done being dark?

“You’re wrangling the life out of my hand, and we both know what you think of my hands,” Helen whispered to Evelyn as they walked up the front walkway to the door of Kit Purcell’s apartment complex.

“You should be fine with your powers, and I’m nervous,” Evelyn muttered through her teeth.

“It’s going to be fine,” said Helen gently, stretching her neck slightly to lean over and kiss Helen’s cheek. “No one will recognize you.”

“They’d better not, or I wore _light pink_ for nothing.” Evelyn bitterly spat out the words “light pink”, and Helen laughed.

“It is an effective disguise,” Helen acknowledged. “I’m still impressed by your makeup skills. Your eyes look completely different.”

“Yeah, less droopy than usual,” Evelyn sighed.

“There’s nothing wrong with your eyes, honey. They’re beautiful the way they are.”

“You’d say that even if my eyes were hideous because you’re too nice.”

They had reached the front door; Evelyn opened it for Helen and they walked into the foyer. “Not too late to turn back,” said Evelyn, squeezing Helen’s hand again.

Helen pulled Evelyn close and kissed her deeply. Evelyn’s knees went weak and she hung onto Helen until her lover was done kissing her. “You can’t resolve all of our arguments by kissing me,” Evelyn insisted. “Well, okay, you probably could…”

“Are you really that nervous?” Helen asked. “We can go get coffee instead.”

Evelyn hugged Helen so tightly it would have knocked the wind out of someone with less elastic ribs. “Nah. I’m just being an introverted wuss. I was never good at people. If I didn’t know it was genetically impossible, I would say that my parents passed all the people skills down to Win and left none for me.”

Helen kissed Evelyn’s forehead. “Ready to go in?”

“Yeah. But I may need to keep squeezing your hand.”

Helen pressed the intercom button for Kit’s apartment; Kit buzzed them in and they walked to Kit’s apartment’s front door with Evelyn still clutching Helen’s hand. Kit opened the door and greeted them both with a grin. “Hey! Helen! And you must be…Vivian, right?”

The change that came over Evelyn was instantaneous and surprising verging on shocking; she smiled at Kit—a small smile; not too cheesy—and extended her hand to be shaken as if she weren’t in any way nervous. “That’s me. It’s good to meet you; Helen probably told you that I’m not easy to drag out of the house, but this was too tempting.”

Helen quickly schooled her surprise; she had forgotten how skilled Evelyn was at masking her true feelings.

“Come on in,” said Kit, beckoning. “There are snacks. You’d better try the artichoke dip before it’s all gone; it’s awfully popular.”

Helen and Evelyn stepped into Kit’s modest but nicely decorated apartment, and Helen couldn’t help but notice that the dip on the table in the center of the living room was the same brand that Bob was always buying.

The room was not quite crowded, but Helen counted at least seven other attendees standing around the periphery, chatting; Evelyn herself had already struck up a conversation with Kit and encouraging her to draw up blueprints for some of the ideas she had come up with while on the job. Helen’s eyes narrowed as she saw a familiar shade of teal hair, and then her eyes widened as she recognized the strong jaw line…

It was only her years of practice at subterfuge to maintain secret identities that kept her from crying out in surprise. What was Voyd—Karen—doing in Municiberg? Helen walked over to Karen, who was chatting animatedly with a stunningly pretty Black girl. “I don’t mean to interrupt,” said Helen casually to Karen, “but I couldn’t help but admire your hair.”

“Oh, thanks, I—” Karen didn’t have Helen’s discipline, and the second she laid eyes on Helen, she reacted visibly, her eyes widening and clapping a hand over her mouth.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you either,” said Helen warmly, trying to give Karen a prompt to explain what she was doing in Municiberg and how they knew each other without contradicting any of the cover story Karen might have already given.

“Oh, you know Karen?” said the woman Karen had been talking to.

“Yeah, we have, uh, uh—” Karen stammered.

“We have mutual friends,” Helen explained. “Also, nice to meet you. I’m Helen.”

“Oh, okay.” The woman nodded. “I’m Jess. Karen and I work in the same office.”

“I was just telling Jess that I’m glad HR transferred me to the Municiberg office, because I’m still looking for art jobs, and I ran out of leads in Megapolis,” Karen explained, sounding only slightly panicked. 

Helen wasn’t sure about the wisdom of telling a coworker that you were looking for other jobs, but she decided to broach the topic later. She was about to ask Karen where she and Jess worked when Karen’s eyes grew massive again and she grabbed Helen’s shoulder. Helen turned to look at what Karen was eyeing, and Evelyn was walking over to them.

“Afternoon,” said Evelyn in a casual voice that was eerily convincing. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here, Karen. Mind if we talk privately for a sec?”

Karen, still rather gobsmacked, gave Helen an anxious glance, as if silently asking what the hell was going on. Helen nodded slightly. “Uh…okay,” Karen got out and followed Evelyn to an unoccupied corner of the room.

Helen made small talk with Jess for a few minutes, and then Kit’s voice sounded out surprisingly loudly. “Okay, everyone, let’s get this thing going!”

Helen made her way to the circle of chairs that Kit had set up in the center of the living room. She sat down, and Evelyn slid into the chair beside her, assuming a cross-legged slouch. “Can you just not sit normally?” Helen chuckled to Evelyn.

“Nope,” said Evelyn, smiling.

“So…Karen…?” Helen began.

“I’ll catch you up later,” Evelyn murmured.

“All right.”

Kit clapped her hands together. “Okay, those of us who have been here before know things can get kind of heavy, so why don’t we start out with a round of introductions? Your name, who you’re into if you’re comfortable saying that, and anything else you’d like to include. I’ll start. I’m Kit, I’m a lesbian, and I’m an electrician. And I have some good news! I was recently reunited with my brother!”

That statement earned a round of applause; Kit was grinning so hard it looked like it hurt. Helen found herself thinking that she and Bob had the same smile.

“And he has a family!” Kit continued. “A wife and three kids. So my family just got much bigger!”

That comment earned laughter and applause. 

“Actually,” Kit continued, “that’s my sister-in-law right there.” She pointed at Helen, who waved. “And I would ask you to start, but let’s let someone who has been here start.” Kit gestured at the woman beside her, who nodded and spoke. She had an accent that Helen was able to trace to somewhere in Central America. “Hello, everyone. I’m Patricia, but you can call me Patty. I like men and women, but my relationships with women have always gone better. I live with my girlfriend, and she works part-time at the Municiberg West Gym, and I’m a court stenographer.”

The members of the group ended up introducing themselves in clockwise order, and Helen tried to remember all of their names: Patty, Marianne, Lisse, and Antonia. Helen was sitting next to Antonia, so then it was her turn. “Hi, all. I’m Helen, and…” she had initially wanted to stop there, but she kept going. “I always tried to convince myself that I couldn’t be interested in women because I was interested in men. I’ve been married for fifteen years to an amazing guy, and I only recently was able to admit the truth to myself, and to him.” She took a deep breath. “And we recently agreed to an open marriage so I could be with Vivian.” She took Evelyn’s hand and squeezed; Evelyn squeezed back, and a chorus of “aww”s sounded from the assembled women.

“So, Helen kind of introduced me already, but I’m Vivian,” said Evelyn, sounding as if she had been answering to that name since she had been born. “I like women. A lot. And…I didn’t try to hide it from myself so much, but I did try to hide it.” She squeezed Helen’s hand again. “Guess that didn’t work.”

That earned some laughs. After the last two introductions (Jess, who Helen and Karen had spoken to, and a small, dark-haired woman named Flora), Kit suggested that they start by going around the circle and listing a few hobbies of theirs, which was how Helen learned that Evelyn enjoyed watching documentaries—especially if they involved inventing or inventors—and at least one of the other women also had a motorcycle.

“So, uh…” Karen began, twisting her hands, when the conversation reached a lull. “If we’re okay with getting kind of serious this early, can I say something?”

“Go ahead, Karen,” said Kit, nodding.

“Okay. Um…” Karen took a deep breath. “This is my second week in Municiberg, and I’m already kind of scared. I was initially really glad when my company transferred me here, because it was a relief to not be in the same city as my parents anymore, but I also had to move kind of fast because of the transfer and I didn’t really have time to vet my new landlord. Yesterday I overheard her telling the super that her nephew just got kicked out for being gay, and she wouldn’t let him stay with her. She kept calling him ‘a gay’ like she was cussing.” Karen wrapped her arms tightly around herself. “I’m going to try to figure out if I can get out of my lease.”

Helen opened her mouth to speak up, but Evelyn beat her to it. “Karen, come talk to me after we’re done, because my brother has a place in Municiberg he’s not using.” 

Karen’s mouth dropped open. “You mean it!?”

Evelyn nodded. “Yeah, I mean it.”

Karen got up and launched herself at Evelyn, who accepted Karen’s tight embrace. Evelyn whispered something Helen couldn’t hear in Karen’s ear and let her go. Karen walked back to her seat, beaming. Helen made a mental note to talk to Karen after the meeting was over as well and give her the option of staying with the Parrs if she didn’t want to be alone in one of the Deavors’ massive abodes.

“Is it okay if I go next, or do we always go clockwise? Or sometimes do we go really crazy and go counterclockwise?” Evelyn asked, and that earned her some chuckles.

“You can go ahead,” said Kit.

“Okay.” Evelyn took a deep breath. “I’d never even kissed a woman before Helen, and that wasn’t all that long ago, so being here feels weird for me. I say ‘weird’ because I can’t describe the feeling well and don’t have a more articulate thing to say.” She swallowed. “Cover your ears if you’ve ever been hurt for being gay and what I’m about to say might freak you out. When I was in high school, I was raped by a boy who was trying to ‘fix’ me, and someone else who thought it would work let it happen. I was angry about that for a long time. Hell, I’m still angry. But I thought it meant…certain things about human nature that I’m not sure are true.” She swiped the back of one hand across her eyes. “And I thought I’d never get the chance to so much as hold hands with someone I actually wanted to be with, but fortunately Helen is really damn good at proving me wrong.”

Karen made a squealing noise. “You two are so cute!”

“Uh…thanks? I think,” Evelyn cracked, earning a few laughs.

“You two are so lucky to have each other,” said Antonia wistfully, and Kit nodded.

“Actually, it was Vivian who reunited me with my brother,” added Kit. “Helen tells me she’s a brilliant scientist.”

“That doesn’t make me a decent girlfriend,” Evelyn protested, smiling through her growing blush. Helen, sure that the smile was false, squeezed her hand. “Look, I’m no prize, trust me,” insisted Evelyn, growing increasingly flustered.

“Yes you are,” Helen whispered, leaning over to kiss Evelyn’s cheek.

Evelyn rested her head against Helen’s shoulder. “Okay, enough. It’s somebody else’s turn.”

To both Helen’s and Evelyn’s relief, no one else had stories that were quite as fraught as Evelyn’s (or if they did, they didn’t feel like sharing). Kit suggested a special session for the members who had had issues with their families being unsupportive, and then the conversation turned to books that they had been reading recently. Marianne had been reading _Rebecca_ , and Evelyn got to bring up the Hays code again, which made Karen look visibly distressed.

“Maybe next time we can discuss ways to change this kind of homophobia,” said Kit, and many of the attendees nodded. Evelyn rolled her eyes; Helen elbowed her. “I think that’s a fine place to adjourn for now. Thank you to everyone who came.” 

“And thank you,” said Helen.

“Especially for the dip,” added Lisse, and Helen shook her head, deciding that it would be a bad time to mention how many calories that particular dip was.

Karen walked over to Helen and Evelyn. “So…you really meant that. About me staying in one of your brother’s houses.” She looked anxiously at Evelyn.

“I really meant that,” said Evelyn with a small smile. Helen fought back the urge to sweep Evelyn off her feet and kiss her; she was lovely when she smiled. “Although…” Evelyn’s brow furrowed with consternation. “I don’t know how okay he’d be with knowing why you needed a place of your own. He doesn’t know about me yet.”

Karen bit her lips, and Helen cut in. “You can always stay with the Parrs, Karen. We’d be glad to have you.”

Karen’s face lit up. “Really!?”

“Yes, really,” said Helen, and this time she was prepared for Karen’s tight hug.

Helen and Evelyn both gave Karen their phone numbers, and Helen and Kit exchanged a quick, sisterly embrace, and then Kit insisted on hugging “Vivian” as a thanks for finding Bob.

Evelyn didn’t say much to Kit besides “you’re welcome”, and then she was almost silent as Helen drove her home. “Everything okay?” asked Helen gently after one too many attempts at small talk fell flat. 

“Just thinking.” Evelyn sighed. “But to answer your question, everything isn’t okay. And to answer your next question, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Helen reached over and caressed Evelyn’s hair. “Okay. Then we won’t.” At least for now, she added silently, knowing full well that letting upsetting things fester for too long was a terrible plan.

Evelyn didn’t say anything else until Helen pulled up to Evelyn’s driveway, at which point Evelyn said “Can you come in for a little while?” in a voice so quiet it was almost a whisper.

“Sure,” said Helen warmly. She parked the car and got out, and she was just finishing locking the door when Evelyn came up to her and slipped a hand into hers, an expression that spoke of fear and longing and a desperate need to hide both on her face. Helen cupped Evelyn’s cheek in her hand and gave her a warm, if chaste, kiss. 

“I think I need one of those superpowered hand massages,” Evelyn mumbled.

“Okay.”

They walked to the house holding hands, and Evelyn led Helen inside to the couch in the den. “Can I sit in your lap while you rub my hands?” The words tumbled out of Evelyn’s mouth quickly, as if she were embarrassed of them.

Helen pulled Evelyn close and wrapped her arms around and around her lover until they surrounded her from her neck to her waist. Evelyn laid her head on Helen’s shoulder and sighed. “You can tell me when you want something,” said Helen lowly. “I like hearing it.”

“I like when you hold me like this,” Evelyn whispered.

Helen kissed Evelyn’s hair. “Tell me what you want,” she soothed.

“I want you to hold me in your lap and rub my hands until I feel like I could fall asleep,” Evelyn breathed. She kissed Helen’s shoulder. “You make me feel so good.”

Helen unwrapped her arms from Evelyn, sat down, and gathered Evelyn into her lap. She took Evelyn’s deformed hand between her two and began to massage gently. Evelyn made a small whimpering noise and tucked her head against the curve of Helen’s throat.

Helen gently rubbed each of Evelyn’s fingers, then pressed the ball of her thumb into Evelyn’s palm and made slow, careful circles. “How does that feel?”

“You know it feels amazing,” Evelyn muttered.

“Are you okay to talk about what you told Karen?”

Evelyn sighed. “Yeah, I guess. I gave her a bowdlerized version of what happened. I figured if she knew what I actually did to you, she’d use her portals to throw me out the window. I mean, she’s the sweetest thing, but she’s infatuated with you.”

Helen sighed. “I can tell.”

“Everyone who has seen the two of you in the same room can tell,” Evelyn deadpanned, and Helen chuckled. “I told her that you forgave me because you’re too nice for your own good. And I apologized to her. For making her part of my plan. She hugged me.”

Helen laughed. “Yeah, she’s a hugger.”

“I can see why she idolizes you. You’re both too nice for your own good.” Evelyn sighed. “Her parents disowned her. I don’t understand how she can be so…optimistic.”

“Everyone reacts to terrible things happening to them differently, Evelyn,” Helen pointed out, her heart sinking at the thought of Karen not having any support from her family.

“I reacted pretty shittily.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that.” Helen kissed Evelyn’s hair. “But you’re doing better now, which is the important part.”

“Yeah…I guess.”

Helen continued massaging Evelyn’s hands until Evelyn had relaxed to the degree that Helen couldn’t tell whether or not she was actually asleep. “Evelyn? Sweetie?” Helen kissed Evelyn’s forehead. “I have to go.”

“M’kay,” Evelyn mumbled sleepily. “Next Saturday, then?”

“Next Saturday,” Helen agreed, standing up and laying Evelyn down on the couch. “I can see myself out if you want to lie here.”

“Kiss me first?”

Helen leaned down and kissed Evelyn soundly. “See you soon.”

Evelyn, apparently not satisfied, leaned up and gave Helen a surprisingly deep, firm kiss for someone who was half-asleep. “See you soon.” 

Helen left, smiling, thinking contentedly that she always felt like she was walking on air after she had spent time with Evelyn.

-

Two nights later, it was a school night, so Violet would ordinarily have been asleep, but she was struggling with the material for her last environmental science test of the school year and she and Helen were awake late running flash cards. Helen had excused herself to brew a pot of coffee when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” said Violet, practically rushing to the door to escape her studies.

Helen sighed and shook her head, wishing Evelyn were around; environmental science may not have been her forte, but she was still probably better at it than Helen was.

“Uh, Mom?” Violet peeked into the kitchen. “Your girlfriend’s here. And…she doesn’t look so good.”

Helen’s mouth dropped open and she raced to the door. Evelyn was standing in the entryway, shaking and deathly pale, a satchel tucked under her arm. “I’m sorry,” was the first thing that came out of her mouth when she saw Helen. “I know it’s late.”

Helen swept Evelyn into her arms, her heart thudding; she recognized the flat, distant tone of voice that Evelyn was using from the time Evelyn had accidentally been reminded of her high school assault. “Let’s get you into a guest room. You can stay the night.”

Evelyn followed silently as Helen led her to the nearest guest room, the one Helen found the coziest; it was tucked underneath a staircase, and the décor was more—as Violet might have put it—homey than the rest of the place. Helen guided Evelyn to sit down on the bed, touching and kissing her face, but Evelyn was unresponsive. “Evelyn, honey, come back to me,” Helen begged softly. Evelyn closed her eyes.

“It’s easier from a distance.”

“You can’t stay like that forever,” said Helen gently. “Can you at least tell me what upset you so much that you ended up like this?”

“Look in my bag. Front outermost pocket.”

Helen did. Inside was a piece of paper folded into quarters. She unfolded it and read:

_Dear Helen,_

_I was going to start this letter by saying that I wish you hadn’t saved me when you shot me out of my jet, but that isn’t true. I’m glad I’ve had this time with you._

_There’s a lot I have to get through here, so I’ll make a list._

_1\. You’ve made me trust you. If someone had told me a few months ago that I would sleep peacefully in the same bed as a superhero, I’d have punched them. But I feel comfortable and safe with you. Thank you for that._  
_2. ~~I love you so much.~~ I wanted to say “I love you” here, but I’m not sure I understand what feeling romantic love is like enough to say that. It feels true, but it might not be. But my last thoughts will probably be about you and how happy you made me._  
_3\. I’ve done some pretty terrible things. Some of them I don’t care about as much as I should. I’ll never be that torn up over the Pizza Planet boy. But I could have hurt a lot of supers who didn’t actually do anything to me. And I raped you. I know you forgave me, and I never meant to hurt you, but that doesn’t change what happened._  
_4\. You really shouldn’t be sleeping with your rapist. I don’t think I have to elaborate on that._  
_5\. If I went back to house arrest or the hospital, you’d find a way to stay with me. I’d like that. I want to stay with you. But it’s not what I deserve._  
_6\. I know I don’t deserve you, but I don’t have the courage to break up with you. And I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t let me. “Strong-willed” doesn’t even begin to describe you._  
_7\. I think this is the best solution for everyone. You can focus on your family and your hero work without having to worry about an axillary partner 1) with more issues than National Geographic and 2) who you have to hide from the authorities despite the fact that you, in theory, should be on their side. As for Win…I’ve written him a letter too. I hope both of you understand why I have to do this._

_I’m scared, Helen. I’m scared to die and I don’t want to be separated from you. But despite my history of doing the wrong thing, I think I’m doing the right thing._

_Please take care of yourself when you’re running around saving people. Your family is lucky to have you._

_-Evelyn_

Helen’s hands were shaking as she put down the letter. “Evelyn…” she whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears.

“I couldn’t do it,” said Evelyn, her voice still dull and distant. “I can never do the right thing. I’m a coward. Kept thinking about you." She shook her head. "Superheroes make us weak. Pathetic, in my case."

“Oh, God, Evelyn, sweetie…” Helen climbed unto the bed with Evelyn, scooped her up, and held her tightly. Evelyn offered no help or resistance, merely let her head loll against Helen’s shoulder. “What…prompted this?”

Evelyn said nothing.

“Was there something that prompted this?” Helen pressed, and Evelyn nodded. “But you don’t feel like talking.”

Evelyn didn’t respond in any way for a long time. Finally, she spoke, her voice so quiet Helen could barely make out the words. “Will you stay with me tonight?”

“Of course,” Helen soothed. “I’ll stay with you. Are you okay to be alone for a few minutes while I talk to Vi?” She had to talk to Bob too, but she didn’t think that mentioning her husband was the best idea at the moment.

Evelyn nodded. Helen gently laid her down on the bed and went to the kitchen, where Violet was waiting anxiously.

“You were right, Vi,” said Helen with a sigh. “Evelyn is in a bad way.”

“Yeah,” said Violet. “I got that. What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure,” said Helen, “but it has to do with her feeling depressed and guilty.”

“Guilty about what she did to supers?”

“You guessed right.” Helen massaged her temples. “Are you going to be okay going over the rest of the flash cards yourself, honey?” 

Violet nodded, then walked over to Helen and hugged her. “I bet Evelyn probably needs a hug too.”

“She definitely does,” said Helen with a grim smile. She peeked in on Evelyn, who was still lying quietly on the bed in the guest room, then walked upstairs. Bob was sitting up in bed, a newspaper on his lap, but he was dozing. “Honey?”

Bob blinked and startled awake. “Oh. Hey, honey. Done studying with Violet?”

“Yes, because Evelyn’s here.”

Bob sat bolt upright. “Evelyn!? She’s here!?”

“And I’d better get back to her, because she’s in a horrible place right now. She came over here with a suicide note. She told me she couldn’t do it, but I’m still not comfortable leaving her alone.”

Bob threw the covers to the side and got up. “Do you two need anything?”

Helen briefly issued a prayer of thanks for her husband’s supportiveness. “Could you put the kettle on? I want to make her some chamomile.”

“Done.”

A few seconds later, Evelyn was in Helen’s arms again, still limp and silent. Helen caressed her hair and her face, whispering whatever soothing things she could think of. “We can talk when you’re ready,” she said again and again. “When you’re ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so mean to poor Evelyn. But unfortunately, having a good support system doesn't make symptoms go away. And yes, I (or rather Evelyn) will explain what prompted Evelyn's SI in the next chapter.


	11. You're Being Looked After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fallout from one letter and the drafting of more letters, and Evelyn reunites with her brother.

Evelyn drank her tea and let Helen massage her hands, but she still moved as if in a fog, and her eyes were still unfocused and distant. Helen sat up with her late into the night, and when Evelyn spoke, Helen was almost startled.

“It was a few things. I hadn’t told Win about you and me. But I told Karen that I’d have to clear it Win before we could have her move into one of Win’s houses, so I figured I’d better spill the beans to him.” Evelyn was quiet for a short moment; Helen didn’t prompt her. “He said he still loved me but that he was going to need some time to think. Better than I was afraid of.” Evelyn shook her head. “I couldn’t bring myself to break the news to Karen that I couldn’t offer her a safe place to live. And…God. Karen. She’s an artist. She’s a lesbian. Her parents don’t love her anymore because she’s a lesbian. She still feels like she was put on the earth to help people.” Evelyn buried her face in her hands. “I didn’t know any of that…before. I wasn’t even thinking of her as a person. Just as a _super_. I could have completely fucked over her life and she’d never even done anything to me.”

“Evelyn,” Helen began, “the fact that you feel sorry for that means—”

“That it still happened! Even if she forgave me.”

“Do you think maybe it would help if you apologized to the others?” Helen asked softly. 

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Evelyn leaned against Helen. “I just…spiraled. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything I’d done to hurt people…especially you. I know you forgave me. But I can’t forgive myself.”

Helen took Evelyn’s hands in hers, leaned close, and kissed her warmly. Evelyn didn’t kiss her back, but she didn’t push her away either. Helen kissed Evelyn again and again until Evelyn relaxed and leaned into the kiss and clutched Helen’s hands. 

“Are you just going to kiss me every time you’re trying to make me feel better?” Evelyn mumbled.

“Only if it works. And it seems to.”

Evelyn leaned against Helen. “It works.”

“Do you want me to hold you?” Helen asked softly, knowing Evelyn had trouble articulating when she wanted comfort or affection.

“Yeah.”

Helen gathered Evelyn into her lap and kissed her cheek. “Are you feeling any better?”

Evelyn buried her face in Helen’s shoulder. “I can feel myself coming back, but I don’t want to go through with it. Not feeling is easier.”

Helen slid a hand slowly up and down Evelyn’s back. “Is Winston going out of his mind worrying about you? I know you said you wrote him a note too.”

“Nah.” Evelyn sniffled. “I was going to mail his. Never got around to it.”

“Maybe we should call him,” Helen whispered. “Wouldn’t he want to know about this?”

Evelyn chuckled once, bitterly. “I’m not sure he could handle it. He could barely handle knowing I like women. Sometimes it seems like he stopped aging when our parents died.”

“He has to grow up some time,” Helen countered, “and he’s your family. He should be there for you.”

Evelyn made a noise that made Helen wonder if her criticism of Winston as immature wasn’t a tad bit hypocritical. “M’kay. Call him. But keep holding me.”

Helen extended one arm an extra foot to reach the phone on the bedside table and dial Winston’s number, which she now knew by heart. The hour was late, so she wasn’t surprised to hear that his voice sounded tired. “Winston?”

“Elastigirl? Is that you?”

“It’s me,” said Helen, “but it’s actually Evelyn that wants to talk.”

“Evelyn?” Winston repeated. “She’s with you?”

In response, Helen handed Evelyn the phone. “Hey, Win,” said Evelyn, her voice dull and heavy.

Helen felt like she was eavesdropping; she could hear Winston crying out, “Evie? Is that you?”

“It’s me.”

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Except for the part where I drove to see Helen in the middle of the night with a suicide note in my bag because I couldn’t bring myself to go through with it.”

“ _What!?_ ”

“Yeah, that was a thing that happened,” said Evelyn distantly, and Helen gave her a quick squeeze.

“I’m coming over there now,” said Winston firmly.

“Uh, what?”

“I said I’m coming over there. I’ll see you soon.”

The long beep of a disconnected line sounded, and Evelyn looked up at Helen, vaguely bewildered. “I mean…I guess it’s technically his house, but he could have asked you.”

“I’ll let him in as long as you’re okay with me not holding you for a few minutes.”

Evelyn swallowed. “I kind of feel like I’m going to fly into pieces if you let go of me, but I don’t know if you can extend your arm all the way to the door.”

“I’ll give it a try.” 

By the time Winston arrived, Helen had successfully felt her way to the front door with one hand, and when he knocked, Helen opened the front door and beckoned for him to follow. Winston practically ran into the guest room, where Helen was still cradling Evelyn.

“Evie!”

Winston launched himself across the bed and hugged Evelyn, who sat up halfway to receive the embrace but still wouldn’t leave Helen’s lap. “Hey, Win.”

“God, Evie, I was so worried about you!”

“I’m still breathing, at least.”

Winston leaned back to look at his sister. “Your hair is so long!”

“Thanks, I grew it myself.”

Winston cupped Evelyn’s face in his hands. “Are you all right? Why did you want to hurt yourself?”

Evelyn closed her eyes and was quiet, but didn’t recoil. “A bunch of things. Guilt, mostly.”

“I would miss you so much!”

“You’d be better off without me,” said Evelyn, her voice bitter and harsh.

“I know it’s hard for you to understand, Evelyn, honey, but we would miss you,” Helen soothed, caressing Evelyn’s back with a palm. Evelyn sank back into Helen’s embrace, her eyes still closed.

“It’s good to see you, Win. I’m just…I can’t really feel much right now. I’m so tired.”

Winston looked at Helen, his face a mask of concern. “I’ve never seen her like this.”

“You want to sleep, honey?” Helen asked Evelyn, who nodded.

“Sorry I don’t feel up to chatting,” Evelyn mumbled.

“Winston, would you like to stay the night?” Helen asked. “You can check on Evelyn in the morning, and you’ll be here if she needs you.”

Winston’s cheeks colored. “Oh…sorry, I sort of…assumed…”

“Technically, it is your house,” Helen said with a smile.

“Talk tomorrow, Win?” Evelyn mumbled.

“Of course.” Winston reached over to squeeze his sister’s limp hand.

“I hate to be a bad hostess, but you may have to show yourself to one of the guest rooms, because I don’t think Evelyn will allow me to stop holding her,” said Helen with a grim smile, and Evelyn buried her face in Helen’s shoulder, reinforcing that statement.

“Okay. Evie, I’ll be in the guest room with the blue wallpaper. Come find me if you need anything. Anything at all.” Winston left the room, slowly, occasionally glancing back over his shoulder.

“What do you bet he doesn’t figure out that we’re sleeping together until I tell him?” Evelyn muttered, and Helen couldn’t help but smile.

“How do you think he’ll react?”

“He’ll faint.” Evelyn sighed and tried to nestle close to Helen, but was already about as close to her as physically possible.

“Are you going to get into your pajamas, or are you just not going to do anything that involves me not holding you?”

Evelyn didn’t reply for a long moment. “Guess I should get into my pajamas.” She slowly disentangled herself from Helen, shambled over to the satchel she had brought, and looked through it for her pajamas. She withdrew what looked like a similar outfit to what she had been wearing when Helen first confronted her about the truth behind her father’s death: silk pajama pants and a white camisole. She moved to unbutton her blouse, but stopped and glanced over at Helen almost nervously.

Helen walked to Evelyn and kissed her shoulder. “Go ahead and get changed. I can control myself.”

Evelyn undressed and shrugged her pajamas on, moving as if in a trance. Helen had to remind her gently to brush her teeth, which she did mechanically before crawling back into bed. “Hold me?”

Helen kissed Evelyn’s hair. “I’m going to go brush my teeth first, okay?”

Evelyn nodded. Helen hurried upstairs, quickly brushed her teeth, and headed back downstairs to gather Evelyn close and pull the covers over them. “How are you holding up, sweetie?”

“I wish I’d gone through with it. I wish I were dead.”

Helen flinched. “Why?”

“Because the more I care about you, the worse I feel about what I did to you, and to Karen, and to the others. I wish I could drink the contents of your liquor cabinet, but I’d sober up eventually. And I don’t have my job or my full lab anymore, so I can’t throw myself into inventing to forget.”

“You don’t need to forget.” Helen kissed the top of Evelyn’s head. “You need to process. I still think that writing to all of the supers you hypnotized would help. Bob and I have contacts who could help you get your letters out in a way that can’t be traced. And your brother worked with Rick Dicker, right? Maybe he could figure out a way for you to take on a new identity so you can go back to work.”

Evelyn sniffed. “My squeaky-clean brother? He probably only hasn’t turned me in because he knows I’d get stuck back in the hospital, being drugged out of my skull most of the time and subjected to painful shocks while I was lucid.”

Helen threaded one hand through Evelyn’s hair. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Well, you’re a superhero, so he might listen to you.” Evelyn leaned back and looked at Helen, her eyes focusing vaguely on her lover’s face. “Kiss me?”

Helen responded by touching her lips to Evelyn’s, giving her several warm, slow kisses. “Better?”

“A little. Guess you can keep kissing me every time you have to cheer me up.”

“I guess so,” Helen whispered, leaning down to kiss Evelyn again.  
-  
Helen’s normal circadian rhythm required her to wake up when it was time to get her children up for school, so she was awake before Evelyn. She got up from the guest room bed slowly and cautiously, careful not to wake Evelyn, grateful that though they had fallen asleep holding each other, they had become disentangled during the night. Helen went upstairs to change into a fresh pair of clothes and peek into Violet's and Dash's rooms to make sure they had gotten up with their alarms, and then headed back to the kitchen to make breakfast. She cooked enough bacon and scrambled eggs for everyone in the house, including Evelyn and Winston, taking Evelyn’s advice and measuring the milk.

Violet and Bob were the first ones downstairs. “Morning, honey. Morning, Vi. Ready for your test?” said Helen.

“Yeah, I think so.” Violet seated herself at the table. “How’s your girlfriend?”

“Still sleeping. Winston is here too. I thought it would be a good idea for Evelyn to get some support from her family.” Helen set down Violet’s and Bob’s plates, pausing to kiss Bob’s cheek. “Vi, you want some half-coffee half-milk?”

Violet perked up. “Yeah, sure. I thought you said that was only for finals.”

“Well, last night was unusual, and I’m sure you’re tired,” said Helen, retrieving the milk from the fridge. When she turned around, Dash was in his seat, and Helen grabbed a plate for him without missing a beat. “Morning, Dash.”

“Morning, Mom. Your girlfriend is here? And her brother that gave us this house and hired you to fight bad guys?”

“Yes,” said Helen, sitting down with her own plate. “Evelyn isn’t feeling well. She’s still asleep.”

“She came here because she’s sick?” said Dash through a mouthful of eggs.

“She came here because she needed help,” said Helen. “Dash, don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Mmm. Good eggs, Mom. Did you do something different?” asked Violet.

Helen couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, actually. I got a tip from Evelyn. Although she says she can’t cook anything else.”

“S’true, though. I can only cook eggs, and I usually burn them,” said a tired voice from the door to the kitchen.

“Evelyn?” Helen walked over to Evelyn, who slumped against her. “Honey, aren’t you tired?”

“Woke up to use the bathroom. Couldn’t fall back asleep without you,” Evelyn mumbled against Helen’s shoulder.

Helen gave Evelyn a quick hug. “Would you like some breakfast?”

“No. But I probably should eat.”

“Okay.” Helen dropped a quick kiss on Evelyn’s rumpled hair and began making up a plate for her, but Evelyn remained standing awkwardly in the doorway, eyeing Helen’s family.

“Should I, uh, eat somewhere else?”

“Are you going to try to hypnotize us?” Dash asked conversationally.

Evelyn blinked. “No.”

“You can sit down, Evelyn,” said Bob in that carefully neutral voice that Helen remembered from the time Evelyn contacted them after her escape from the hospital. Evelyn looked warily at the Parrs, but shuffled to the table and sat down. Helen set a plate full of eggs and bacon down in front of Evelyn, followed shortly by a steaming cup of coffee.

“Coffee,” said Evelyn in a voice that sounded empty and flat because she was too tired to emote. “Thank God.”

“Are you thanking me?” Helen laughed, sitting down with her plate.

“Yeah, okay. Thank goddess,” Evelyn corrected herself, taking a sip of her coffee.

Violet and Bob were exchanging slightly uncomfortable glances when Winston walked in. “I smell coffee.”

“It’s Italian roast,” said Evelyn. “I know that’s your favorite.”

“Helen, you made breakfast?” Winston sat down. “Thank you!”

“I actually used a tip from your sister to make the eggs,” said Helen, getting up to put a plate together for Winston. Winston’s eyebrows shot up.

“You…got a cooking tip…from Evelyn?”

“Hey, scrambled eggs are the only thing I can make, but I can make them,” Evelyn insisted.

“It was more of a scientific tip than anything else,” said Helen, placing Winston’s plate in front of him and finally sitting down to eat. “She measures everything.” She touched Evelyn’s shoulder. “My scientist.”

“What? It’s a good idea,” Evelyn muttered.

“She’s always cranky until she has at least two cups of coffee,” Winston noted.

Helen thought about that. “I think it’s more like three.”

“I’m right here, you two,” Evelyn grumbled.

“Yeah, Mom, you always said it wasn’t nice to talk about people like they weren’t there,” Dash pointed out, this time with a mouth full of bacon.

Evelyn pointed her fork at Dash. “I like that kid.”

Helen shook her head good-naturedly. “Okay, Dash, you’re right, but that’s the second time today you’ve talked with your mouth full.”

“So…uh…I was going to say ‘Evelyn’, but what do we call you?” Violet asked guardedly.

Evelyn shrugged. “’Evelyn’ is fine. I don’t go by ‘Ms.’ because I have a PhD, but ‘doctor’ sounds too formal.”

“You have a PhD?” Bob repeated. “In what?”

“Electrical and computer engineering. I also have a master’s in materials science.” 

“Huh,” said Violet. “What’d you major in?”

“I was the first female computer science major at the University of California – Municiberg,” said Evelyn, poking at her eggs with a fork. “Minored in bio, though.”

Helen decided to ask Evelyn if her biology classes had taught her that factoid about preventing UTIs after her family members were out of earshot. “Why am I not surprised that you were the first female computer science major?”

Evelyn shrugged. “Because my gender doesn’t have anything to do with my interest in cutting-edge scientific fields, and I wasn’t about to listen to anyone who believed that it did?”

“I can see why you and Mom get along,” said Violet dryly, and Bob choked slightly on his coffee.

Violet and Dash had to leave for school soon afterward, and Evelyn went to the guest room Winston was using to answer his numerous questions about the events that had transpired since she had been forcibly hospitalized. Bob and Helen left them alone while they cleaned up the kitchen, and eventually Winston staggered into the kitchen, his eyes swollen and red. “Helen?” he rasped.

“Yes?” said Helen guardedly, a little surprised Winston had used her given name.

Winston walked to Helen and clasped one of her hands between his two. “Thank you for taking care of my baby sister.”

“You’re welcome.” Helen hugged him.

“I wouldn’t have…” Winston sniffed and stepped back from the hug to wipe his nose. “I wouldn’t have thought Evelyn would have to _escape_ from the hospital. But she told me everything they did to her, and…and why.”

Helen nodded solemnly. “She was worried about telling you.”

“I know.” Winston took a deep breath and rubbed his hands over his face. “She’s still my sister, and I still love her. She also asked me for help writing to the supers she hypnotized. She wants to apologize. She said it was your idea.”

“It was. I was hoping to do something to make her feel less guilty.”

Evelyn shuffled out of the guest room, wiping her eyes. “Who knows whether or not it will work,” she sighed, “but I owe them an apology anyway.” She walked to Helen and laid her head down on Helen’s shoulder; Helen draped her arms around Evelyn and kissed her hair. Both Winston and Bob coughed awkwardly.

“Oh, calm down, Win; can’t I get a hug?” Evelyn grumbled.

“I can help you write your letters too,” Helen murmured.

“Thanks.” Evelyn straightened up. “Is there more coffee?”

“Honey, do you really think I wouldn’t know to make enough coffee for you?” said Helen, shaking her head.

“Okay, true.” Evelyn shambled over to the coffee pot. “Mmm, coffee.”

“I should go.” Winston wiped his eyes. “Evie…”

Evelyn put her coffee mug down and gave her brother a quick hug. “Good to see you, Win.”

“You too, Evie. I was so worried about you.”

“You’re such a big brother,” Evelyn sighed. 

Winston shook Helen’s and Bob’s hands, then gathered up the few things he had hastily grabbed before rushing to the Parr residence the previous night and left. Evelyn retreated to her guest room, where Helen found her drafting letters.

“Hey, honey. How are you feeling this morning? Better, I hope?”

“Yeah, a little better,” sighed Evelyn. “Wanting to die less, which is good.”

Helen climbed onto the bed and sat beside Evelyn, who listed to the side until she was leaning on Helen. “Can I ask you something about that letter you wrote to me?”

“My suicide note? Yeah.”

“You wrote ‘I love you so much’ and crossed it out. Did you mean it when you first wrote it?”

Evelyn pulled her knees to her chest and hugged herself. “Kind of early to say that, isn’t it?”

“Feelings don’t always follow a neat timetable, sweetie,” said Helen warmly.

Evelyn said nothing for a long moment. “I’m new to all this relationship stuff. Including talking about my feelings.”

Helen pulled Evelyn into her lap. “Anything I can do to help?”

Evelyn nestled close to Helen, tucking her head under Helen’s chin. “You’re already doing all you can.” She closed her eyes. “Thank you.”

Helen stroked and kissed Evelyn’s hair. “You’re welcome.”

Evelyn let out a long breath. “So, uh, thank you for letting me stay the night, but when do you need me out of here?”

Helen gave Evelyn a quick squeeze. “Stay as long as you want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write too much filler. But I'm not especially fond of this fic anyway, so eh.
> 
> Oh, and we're coming up on the end of the fic.


	12. Pleasing Them, Engaging Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evelyn ingratiates herself into the Parr household with--what else?--science.

Evelyn spent most of her first day at the Parr residence napping in the guest room. Helen woke her for lunch and was only able to persuade her to eat through sheer persistence, but Evelyn emerged of her own volition when she smelled dinner cooking.

“What did you make and why does it smell so good?” Evelyn asked as she shuffled into the kitchen.

“It’s a recipe I’ve been meaning to try,” said Helen, ladling servings of the food onto plates. “Pasta primavera.”

Evelyn took her plate and sat down. “You’re going to have trouble kicking me out of here if you keep making delicious food, because I’ll have to go back to my near-complete inability to cook.”

“I can help you with some basic cooking skills while you’re here,” Helen offered.

Violet and Dash sat down at the table, and Bob strapped Jack-Jack into his high chair. Jack-Jack began to fuss, and the new device that Edna Mode had given the family to track Jack-Jack’s power usage sounded: “Combustion imminent”. Bob looked over at the device and touched a button on the screen in a practiced motion; lilac flame retardant burst forth from Jack-Jack’s suit, and he began giggling and shoving it into his mouth.

Evelyn leapt up from her seat. “What the _hell!?_ ”

“Language!” said both Helen and Bob automatically.

“I stand by what I said!” said Evelyn, pointing at Jack-Jack, who was still happily consuming the edible foam. “What _is_ that!? And by ‘that’, I mean the device you just used as well as the purple foam.”

“Edna Mode made it when Jack-Jack’s powers started manifesting,” said Bob. “Complete lifesaver. The purple foam keeps him from catching on fire, and it’s edible.”

“Edna Mode…that explains it. That woman is a fu—a total genius,” said Evelyn, sitting back down. “It _predicts_ what power he’s going to use?”

“Which we need, seeing as Jack-Jack has seventeen powers,” Violet spoke up.

Evelyn shook her head, smiling. “I’d about kill to talk to Edna Mode about that technology for five minutes,” she said wistfully, a scientist yearning for collaboration with another brilliant mind.

“We could arrange for you to meet her,” said Helen, setting plates down in front of Violet and Dash.

Evelyn paled. “Uh. Maybe after I’m done with my apology letters. I should probably write one for her too, seeing as I didn’t stop Winston when he had Gehlbach design your suit.”

“She was _not_ pleased about that,” Bob chuckled. 

“Are there _vegetables_ in the _pasta!?_ ” Dash yelled, scandalized.

“They’re healthy, and they’re good,” said Helen. “At least try them.”

“You should try them,” said Evelyn, to everyone’s surprise. “You’re how old? Ten?”

“Yeah,” said Dash, visibly puzzled by the turn the conversation had taken.

“Your fungiform papillae—I mean taste buds—change as you get older,” said Evelyn. “That means that things that taste bitter to you now, like vegetables, will taste better as you grow up. So you should keep trying them, because you never know when they’ll start tasting better.”

Dash blinked. “Oh. I always wondered why adults like gross things. So I shouldn’t just eat vegetables because Mom says so?”

Evelyn eyed Helen, who quirked an eyebrow. “I’m going to defer to your mom on that.” 

“Wait, what are taste buds really called again?” said Violet.

“Fungiform papillae,” said Evelyn. “I think. My bio classes were a long time ago.” 

“That could be a cool science fair project,” Violet mused. “Tony—this guy I, um, I go out with, Tony—wants to do a science fair project for extra credit, and I think he wants me to help.”

“Hmm.” Evelyn took a bite of her pasta and chewed contemplatively. “Ideally, you’d probably have to do a longitudinal study to measure how your subjects’ taste buds change over time…but for a science fair, maybe you could do a survey. Ask your classmates what bitter foods they like now that they didn’t when they were younger.” She paused. “A longitudinal study means it’s done over a long period of time. Years, sometimes. So that kind of experiment wouldn’t work for a science fair.” 

“I could do a survey,” said Violet thoughtfully. “Yeah, I’ll talk to Tony.”

Dash tried a bite of asparagus, made a face, and began pushing the asparagus pieces to the side of the plate. “ _Blech_. I guess my taste buds haven’t grown up yet.”

“Well, you heard Evelyn; you should keep trying,” said Helen, with a grateful glance at Evelyn. 

After dinner, Jack-Jack was fussy, so Bob tried to entertain him while Evelyn helped Helen with the dishes.

“My letters aren’t going well,” Evelyn confessed as she handed Helen a stack of plates. “I wanted to start with one basic template and then customize it, but everything I write sounds so hollow. Like there’s nothing I can realistically say that could possibly make up for what I did.”

“I can help you, if you want,” Helen offered as she began placing the plates into the dishwasher.

Evelyn let out a long breath. “Yeah. Okay. Thanks. I just…” She shook her head. “I could use my brother’s people skills. Maybe he could somehow lather up my guilt into a decent apology letter.”

“You could call him and ask for help,” Helen suggested, but Evelyn shook her head.

“Nah. I don’t want to make him think about what I did.”

“Okay.” Helen pulled Evelyn into an embrace and kissed her hair. “How much progress have you made?”

“Embarrassingly little,” Evelyn mumbled against Helen’s shoulder.

Helen gave Evelyn a quick squeeze. “I’ll check to see if any of the kids need help with homework, and then I’ll come help you. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Evelyn retired to her guest room while the Parrs sat down in front of the TV with tray tables and bowls of ice cream. Helen waited until a commercial was playing and nobody’s mouth was full before asking, “How does homework look tonight?”

“Mostly studying for finals,” replied Violet. “I think I’ve got it under control. I also was supposed to brainstorm for the science fair, but Evelyn already helped me with that.”

“I have a math worksheet,” said Dash, “and I have to write the first paragraph of an essay about how I’m not going to forget everything I learned this year over the summer.” That sentence was punctuated by a noise very similar to the one he had made after trying the asparagus.

“Will you need help with any of that?” Helen asked, having been apprised of how Dash’s school had “changed math”.

“Nah, it’s on greater than and less than. Dad helped me with it already. I should be fine.” 

“Until the next unit,” Bob sighed wearily. Helen reached out and gave his shoulder an affectionate squeeze.

“In that case, Evelyn needs some homework help,” she said, speaking mostly to Bob; the TV had re-captured the children’s attention. “She’s having trouble with her apology letters.”

“Is that what you two were talking about in the kitchen this morning?” Bob queried.

Helen nodded. “I’m not sure if she’s just trying to assuage her guilt, but she certainly does feel guilty. She wants to write to all the supers she hypnotized, but I think she was just lying in bed failing to focus all day. I offered to help, and she said she’d like that, so we’ll probably be up late writing.”

“Writing?” Bob repeated, sounding a little distressed.

Helen’s brow furrowed. “Yes, writing. Evelyn genuinely wants these letters done.” She lowered her voice. “Besides, she’s exhausted and miserable. I don’t think she’ll be in the mood to do anything but sleep after we’re finished with the letters.”

Evelyn did indeed appear exhausted and miserable when Helen sat down on the bed next to her. “Helen?”

“Hmm?”

“Scientists can’t write.” Evelyn flopped back on the bed. “ _Help_.”

Helen chuckled. “Why don’t you tell me your ideas and I’ll make you an outline, then we can work on putting it into your words?”

Evelyn looked over at Helen without sitting up. “Is that what you tell your kids when they need help with writing for school?”

“It’s a good strategy,” said Helen and reaching to affectionately touch Evelyn’s hair. “Let’s start with…”

“How about…’Hey, I infringed terribly on your personal autonomy, I feel like shit about that, I definitely won’t do it again, can you forgive me’?”

Helen brushed a hand through Evelyn’s hair. “Well, you’ve got the two main elements of an apology: that you’re sorry and you won’t do it again.”

“It’d be pretty impossible to do it again,” Evelyn sighed.

“Not the right angle to take, honey,” Helen chided.

Evelyn dragged her hands down her face. “Let’s start with ‘I know what I did was wrong, and I’m sorry’.”

“Good place to start,” said Helen, beginning to write.

Several painstaking hours later, they had a basic draft finished into which Evelyn could plug names and specific details. “That would have taken me days on my own,” Evelyn sighed gratefully. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Helen leaned over to kiss Evelyn’s forehead, but Evelyn moved to capture Helen’s lips in a warm kiss instead. “Are you tired?” Helen whispered between kisses.

“A little,” Evelyn said, “but I don’t want to go to sleep yet.”

“You want to stay awake and kiss me?” Helen teased.

Evelyn didn’t reply, but a faint blush tinged her cheeks and she bit her lower lip. Helen rested her forehead against Evelyn’s. “Or maybe do more than kiss?” Helen queried.

“Yeah,” Evelyn mumbled, her blush deepening.

“I don’t know how much sound carries from this room, so you’ll have to be quiet,” said Helen, brushing the back of one hand down Evelyn’s cheek.

Evelyn considered that. “I may have to bite down on a pillow. I don’t think I could stop making noise.”

“Whatever works.” Helen kissed Evelyn’s cheek.

“I think, since this doesn’t have buttons, I’d be okay with you taking it off me,” said Evelyn, snapping a strap on her camisole.

Helen pulled Evelyn close and kissed her bare shoulder. “I’d like that. I like when you wear camisoles, because I like your shoulders…but I would definitely also like to take a camisole off of you.”

Evelyn shivered. “Could you?”

Helen slipped her fingertips under the hem of Evelyn’s camisole. “Still okay?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Helen slid her hands upwards, her palms pressed to Evelyn’s sides, then carefully tugged the garment over Evelyn’s head, leaving her naked to the waist. “Have I mentioned how beautiful you are?”

Evelyn swallowed. “I like when you say that.”

Helen pulled Evelyn into her lap. “You know what else I like? Your shoulders. Every time you’re wearing something—or not wearing something—what shows off your shoulders, I want to kiss them.”

“You’re that into my skinny shoulders?” Evelyn breathed. “I thought you usually went for big beefy shoulders.”

Helen pressed her lips to the side of Evelyn’s neck. “I’m flexible.”

“Oh, that was _terrible_.” Evelyn bit her lower lip. “But you can kiss my shoulders. I’d like that. I’d really, really like that.”

Helen rested her hands at the low of Evelyn’s back and kissed her left shoulder. “I’d like to kiss you all over, but I can certainly start with your shoulders.”

“Yes,” Evelyn breathed, her head tilting back.

Helen did exactly as she said she would, covering Evelyn with kisses, laying her down and shifting her weight to accept Evelyn’s legs finding their place around her waist. “I like when you have your legs around me,” Helen sighed.

“I like when you wrap your arms around me ten times, but I think I’d rather you not do that right now and keep kissing me instead,” Evelyn got out, and Helen smiled.

“I also like when you tell me what you like, and what you want me to do for you.”

“Besides anything? Because you could probably do anything to me and I’d like it.”

Helen sifted a hand through Evelyn’s hair. “Can I kiss your breasts? Would you like that?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I would.”

Helen used her powers to bend her spine and lower her head to Evelyn’s chest while remaining in a position that allowed Evelyn’s legs to stay around her waist, and Evelyn reached for a pillow to stick it between her teeth and muffle her cries.

“You okay, sweetie?” Helen murmured in between lavishing kisses on one of Evelyn’s nipples.

Evelyn took the pillow out of her mouth and spoke through clenched teeth. “You actually like doing this? It’s not like I have nice breasts like you.”

Helen quirked an eyebrow. “Yours are adorable, and yes, I like doing this very much.” She leaned down to continue kissing and licking the tip of her lover’s breast. Evelyn stuffed the pillow back into her mouth, moaning and whimpering. Helen closed her eyes as she paid extensive attention to Evelyn’s small, sensitive breasts, listening to her stifled noises and wondering if Evelyn would ever agree to being gagged.

Evelyn took the pillow out of her mouth again. “I want your superpowered hands.”

Helen gave Evelyn a quick kiss. “Do you mind if I undress you all the way first?”

“Oh…yeah. Yeah, please do that.”

Evelyn managed to unwrap her legs from Helen’s waist, and Helen trailed kisses down to Evelyn’s navel, hooking her fingers under the waistband of Evelyn’s pajama pants. “Can I take these off of you?”

Evelyn nodded, still clenching the pillow between her teeth. Helen slowly pulled Evelyn’s pajama pants and underwear down, leaving Evelyn completely bare. Evelyn panted and squirmed, and Helen crawled up to touch foreheads with Evelyn and take the pillow out of her mouth. “I want to hear you say it,” Helen murmured.

Evelyn buried her face in the curve of Evelyn’s neck. “I want your fingers in me.” Her voice trembled.

Helen’s palm gently traversed Evelyn’s flat stomach, then lower, her fingertips tracing Evelyn’s opening. “You want me to try two fingers again?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Evelyn bit back her cry of pleasure as Helen’s slim fingers entered her. Helen shivered as Evelyn’s hips moved to tacitly ask for more, and she curled her fingers slightly, giving Evelyn quick, deep strokes. “You like that?”

“Just like that.” Evelyn’s voice was almost a sob.

Helen tenderly kissed Evelyn’s hair. “You want me to kiss you? Or play with your breasts more?”

“Stay right there, but…wrap your arm around me?”

Helen circled Evelyn with her free arm several times. “Like this?”

Evelyn’s only response was a wordless cry of ecstasy. “Ohhh…”

“I know it’s hard, sweetie, but try to be quiet,” Helen soothed. “Or make noise into my shoulder.”

Evelyn struggled mightily to keep her face pressed against Helen’s throat and shoulder as Helen’s fingers worked tirelessly inside her. It wasn’t long before she called out helplessly, her voice still muffled against Helen’s skin, as the muscles of her inner walls contracted around Helen’s fingers. Helen slowed her caresses until eventually her hand was still. 

Despite already being about as close to her as physically possible, Evelyn tried to nuzzle closer to Helen, tucking her head under her lover’s chin. “My superstar,” she mumbled.

Helen laughed. “I like when you’re sweet.”

“You make me come like that and I’ll be sweeter than saccharine.” Evelyn draped an arm over Helen. “I’ll take care of you, but…need to take a break first.”

“Saccharine, huh?” Helen chuckled.

“Yeah. Lower psychophysical detection threshold compared to table sugar. Not that that means much from a neurochemical standpoint,” Evelyn muttered.

Helen smiled. “I think I understood a little of that.” She kissed Evelyn’s sweat-damp hair. “My scientist.”

“Should I take care of you now?” Evelyn still sounded out of breath, moving one hand to the tie on Helen’s robe.

“I’m fine, honey,” Helen murmured.

“Can this come off, at least?” Evelyn tugged at Helen’s robe.

“Sure.” Helen shrugged her robe off. Evelyn sighed happily at the sensation of Helen’s naked skin against her undressed body, and Helen felt one of her lover’s hands sleepily tracing the curve of her hip. “I know you’re tired. Rest. It’s all right.”

“I don’t deserve you,” was the last thing out of Evelyn’s mouth before sleep claimed her.

-

Violet was bouncy and excited when she returned home from school. “Mom! Mom!”

“In the den, honey,” Helen called.

Violet rushed into the den. “Tony liked the survey idea!” She beamed. “And Ms. DaSilva said it was a good idea too!”

Helen went through her mental Rolodex of her children’s educators. “Ms. DaSilva is your environmental science teacher, right?”

“Yeah! Tony and I have to come up with the survey by the end of the week. Do you think Evelyn could help?”

“You’d have to ask her,” said Helen with a smile. “She should be right back; she’s in the bathroom.”

“What do you have to ask me about?” asked Evelyn, walking into the room.

Violet turned to face Evelyn, looking slightly more apprehensive than she had when she had walked into the house. “Um, my science teacher okayed the survey project about the changing taste buds. So I was wondering if you could help me come up with some ideas for the survey.”

Evelyn considered that. “I still have my subscription to _Nature_ ; I still get all my journals, just under a false name. Yeah, I could look for some papers on maturation in fungiform papillae and see what foods were discussed.”

Violet blinked. “Papers?”

“In science, you publish or perish,” said Evelyn with a crooked smile. “You could just ask your brother and a couple friends his age what foods they think are nasty because you’re too bitter. But if you could reference that you got something about your methods from an established journal? That would impress your teacher.”

Violet considered that and nodded. “Okay.” 

“By when do you need to have the survey drafted?”

“The end of the week.”

Evelyn nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, I’ll stop by my old place today and see if I can scrounge something up for you. It’s kind of a long shot, but I know that the Central St. branch of the Municiberg library has _Nature_ archives, so you might have to try there.”

“I can take you,” Helen offered, “but Evelyn may have to come with us so she can help look through the archives, because I wouldn’t know what to look for.”

“In the meantime, you and your lab partner—or…project partner, I guess—can start generating a list of foods to ask about on the survey,” Evelyn suggested. She walked to the corner of the sectional, sat down in a typically sprawled position, and picked up the newspaper. “Let me know if you have any more questions.”

Violet nodded. “I guess…I should say ‘thanks’.”

Evelyn peered over the top of her newspaper. “You’re welcome.”

Violet went up to her room to call Tony, and Helen sat down next to Evelyn. “Hey.” She rested a hand on Evelyn’s knee. “Thanks for helping Vi.”

Evelyn took a brief glance around the room before leaning against Helen’s shoulder. “You’re welcome. It’s nice to see a girl interested in science.”

“I’m not sure how interested she is in the science and how interested she is in Tony,” Helen chuckled.

“Oh, let me dream,” Evelyn grumbled.

“Seriously, though. Thank you.” Helen draped her arm around Evelyn and squeezed gently. “I was a little nervous about how you would get along with my kids.”

“I’m still a little nervous about the super baby,” Evelyn confessed, and Helen chuckled.

“I don’t blame you, but we have E’s device to help us with that.” Helen paused. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you turned to science to find common ground with Vi and Dash.”

“Well, there’s this English physical chemist who is really into X-ray crystallography—not my forte, but I read one of her papers a few years back and thought it was cool—who said ‘science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated’. That stuck with me.” Evelyn paused, thinking. “I think she’s working on the structure of DNA now. Oh, and speaking of science and your kids, I’m going to head to my little hidey-hole in Lake Estates tomorrow to look through my _Nature_ issues. I’ll be gone a while; I want to catch this old documentary that’s being screened in a couple cinemas.”

“Want me to come with you?” Helen offered.

Evelyn didn’t answer right away. “Nah. I mean…I’d like you to be there, but you might not find it interesting. It’s about the Wright brothers.”

Helen leaned back to look at Evelyn, eyes bright and a smile turning up the corners of her mouth. “The Wright brothers?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, kind of a nothing chapter, but I love writing about Incurable Scientist Evelyn. The next chapter will probably be the last.
> 
> If you can figure out which scientist Evelyn was quoting, you get a cookie*.
> 
> *Cookie not guaranteed


	13. I Wanted You to Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evelyn may have overstayed her welcome with the Parrs.

“That was fun,” said Helen as she and Evelyn walked in through the front door of the Parr-née-Deavor house. “I’m glad I went with you. I had no idea that Orville and Wilbur had five siblings.”

“Yeah, me either,” said Evelyn with a small smile. “Hey…thanks for coming with me.”

“You’re welcome,” said Helen as the door swung shut. She traced Evelyn’s jaw with her fingertips. “You’re awfully pretty when you smile.”

“Helen, _stop_ ,” muttered Evelyn, rolling her eyes and blushing darkly.

“Will you at least hold my hand now?” Helen asked softly. “I know you were anxious about being seen holding another woman’s hand in public, but maybe we can go watch TV and cuddle now. At least until I have to make dinner.”

Evelyn nodded. “Sounds good. And maybe tonight you can teach me how to boil water.”

Helen chuckled. “I’m actually making tuna salad tonight, which doesn’t require boiling water—I already made the hard-boiled eggs I’ll be using—but there is a lot of chopping vegetables.”

“Vegetables? I’m sure Dash will be _overjoyed_ ,” said Evelyn. “I’ll try to help, and I apologize in advance for you having to drive me to the emergency room when I cut my hand open trying to chop celery.”

Helen gave Evelyn a quick kiss. “You’ll do fine.”

The phone rang; Helen picked it up while Evelyn headed to the TV room to select a show for her and Helen to not pay much attention to while snuggling on the couch. “Parr residence.”

“Elasti—Helen? It’s Win.”

“Hey, Win!” said Helen warmly. “Do you want to talk to your sister?”

“Actually…” Winston trailed off. “Would you mind if I invite myself over? I’ve been worrying about Evie, and I’d like to see her. And you and your family, of course.”

“That’d be great,” said Helen. “You want to come over tonight? We’re having tuna salad.”

“I love tuna salad!” said Winston enthusiastically.

“We’ll be eating at about six,” Helen informed him. “Does that work?”

“I’ll see you then!”

Helen said a polite good-bye, hung up, and walked into the TV room.

“Did my brother invite himself over?” Evelyn asked as Helen walked up to the couch where Evelyn was sprawled.

Helen’s eyebrows went up. “Were you eavesdropping?”

“Nah, I just know him.” Evelyn pressed her palm to her face and shook her head. “I don’t get it. Even _I_ know that that’s not socially acceptable, but my brother Prince Charming can do it and people welcome him with open arms. I _do not get it_ , Helen.”

“Social conventions can be a little gray,” said Helen, sitting down on the couch. Evelyn groaned theatrically and squirmed so her head was in Helen’s lap.

“That’s really helpful.”

“Oh, hush and let me kiss you,” said Helen, leaning over to touch her lips to Evelyn’s, and Evelyn didn’t argue.

The response to Winston’s surprise visit was overwhelmingly positive; the Parr children were happy to see him, as was Bob, although Bob was slightly disappointed that the purpose of Winston’s visit was not to offer more hero work. Evelyn didn’t say much to her brother when he showed up at the door, but she hugged him tightly.

“Dinner is delicious, Helen,” said Winston as he helped himself to a third serving of tuna salad.

“Evelyn actually helped,” said Helen, and Winston’s eyes widened.

“Evelyn helped you cook _again_?”

“I chopped carrots _and_ celery without severing any fingers,” said Evelyn with mock pride. “Hey, uh. Win?”

“Hmm?”

Evelyn took a deep breath. “I miss work. I had a kind of crappy lab set up at my old hiding place, but I think I want to start working for DevTech again. Could you look into…getting me a new identity for payroll?”

Winston coughed on the mouthful of water he was drinking. “You want to come back to work? Oh…oh, thank God, Evie. Nobody else can match your brains. I was worried about the company’s future, and I wasn’t going to say anything…”

“I’m the genius behind the genius,” said Evelyn with a shrug.

“Are you going to use ‘Vivian’ as your alias?” Helen asked, and Evelyn nodded.

“Yeah. Might as well use a name I like.”

“So…Evelyn is going to go back to work illegally?” Violet asked.

Winston cleared his throat awkwardly; Evelyn looked directly at Violet and flatly said, “Yes”. She added, “You might think that I should let the justice system do its thing, probably land me on house arrest because I have a very good lawyer, and then ask Win to let DevTech allow felons to work there and go back to work legally. But if I were to turn myself in, I’d be thrown right back into the hospital where I’d spend all my time too drugged to think and being—“

“ _Evelyn,_ ” Helen warned, afraid that a too-detailed description of Evelyn’s experiences in the hospital would give the kids nightmares.

“—‘treated’ for the horrible disease that is my being gay,” Evelyn substituted.

“Wait, being gay is a disease?” Dash repeated.

“No!” shouted all four adults at the table in concert.

“Then…why would they try to ‘treat’ it?” Violet said slowly.

“Would they try to ‘treat’ Aunt Kit?” Dash added.

Evelyn covered her face with her hands. “Ah, shit. Sorry, Helen…Bob.”

“Language!” said Bob and Helen at once.

“I’ll take this one,” said Winston, and Bob and Helen looked at him, surprised. “Kids…sometimes, people are great. But sometimes, there are people who believe terrible things that aren’t true. And that can make them act terrible. Like they did to Evelyn.” Winston squeezed his sister’s hand. “Sometimes that terrible thing is ‘people are bad because they’re different’. Kind of like…”

“Win, if you say being gay is like having super powers, I am going to _kill you,_ ” Evelyn deadpanned. 

Winston cleared his throat. “When you’re around a lot of people with money, sometimes you forget what it’s like to not have money. And sometimes people with a lot of money, ah, look down on people who don’t have money. It can be a little like that.”

Evelyn nodded, mollified.

“Mom always said that money doesn’t mean you’re a good person or a bad person,” said Dash.

“And neither does being gay,” Helen added.

“Huh,” said Violet thoughtfully.

“Okay,” said Dash, going back to eating his tuna salad.

Evelyn nodded at her brother. “Guess I won’t have to kill you.” 

“Isn’t this great?” Helen whispered to Bob, gesturing at the full table. “If we could just get Kit here, it’d be like having the whole family.” 

Bob coughed. “Uh. Yeah, sure.”

Helen touched his shoulder. “Is everything okay, honey?”

“Can we talk later?” Bob muttered, and Helen nodded, nervousness buzzing in her mind. 

Dinner wound down as Violet and Dash finished eating and drifted upstairs to work on the science fair project and homework, respectively, and Winston politely announced that he wanted to get a head start on working on Evelyn’s false identity. He hugged Evelyn and received a handshake from Bob and another hug from Helen, then left. Evelyn retired to her guest room to continue polishing her apology letters after assurance from Helen that she didn’t need help cleaning up the kitchen.

“By the way, honey, I probably won’t be around Saturday afternoon,” said Helen to Bob as she finished spooning leftover tuna salad into a Tupperware container. “I’m thinking of taking Evelyn on a picnic.”

“You’re going out with Evelyn again?” Bob asked, his eyebrows lifting. “Didn’t you two already go to a documentary today? The Wright Brothers thing?”

“I can do two things with my girlfriend in one week,” said Helen with a small laugh. “Besides, after what they put her through at the hospital, she was too nervous to even hold my hand in public. I want some alone time with her.”

“Yeah, honey, about that…”

The apprehension in Bob’s voice made Helen’s brow knit. “What?”

Bob sighed. “Don’t you think she should go back to her own place?”

Helen was suddenly uncomfortably aware of her heartbeat. “What? Why? She actually gets along with the kids, and after everything she’s been through, she needs a supportive environment.”

“I know, I just…” Bob pushed a hand through his hair. “I don’t like seeing you with her.”

Helen blinked. “Bob, this is sort of coming out of nowhere. You’ve always been fine with me and Evelyn being together.”

“Honey, I was all for it when the plan was to…well…” Bob fumbled for the right words.

“Seduce the villainess?” said Helen wearily.

“Well…yeah,” said Bob hesitantly. “I was fine with knowing that you and Evelyn were…when you just spent Saturday evenings out of the house, it was different. But having her here and having to watch you with her, it feels like too much. Too much too fast.”

“Now, hang on,” said Helen, an edge in her voice. “You didn’t say anything about her staying here when she first got here.”

“You said she was suicidal!” Bob countered. “I was fine with helping her out, but…”

Helen cut him off. “We’re _still_ helping her out! She’s not going to get better overnight!”

“I know! But…”

“But _what_?”

Bob opened his mouth to say something, but Helen would never find out what.

“So by when do you need me out of here?” came Evelyn’s cold, tired voice from the doorway.

Bob and Helen both startled.

“Evelyn,” Helen whispered. “How long have you been standing there?”

“’Too much too fast’ was the first thing I was able to understand, but I got the general gist of the conversation,” said Evelyn, still in a voice chilly enough to make Helen shiver.

“Honey,” Helen began, “I—“

Evelyn held her hands up. “Don’t. I’ll go. End of story.”

Helen felt her throat go dry and her heart begin to pound as she watched Evelyn walk away. She followed, stretching out a hand to touch Evelyn’s shoulder, but Evelyn shrugged her off.

“Leave me alone unless you want to help me pack,” said Evelyn stiffly, beginning to throw clothes into her satchel.

Helen swallowed. “Okay. I’ll help you pack, if that’s what you want.”

“I was being sarcastic. I don’t want you to help me pack,” snapped Evelyn, who was rummaging through a pile of clothes and pointedly not looking at Helen.

“Sweetie…” Helen rested a hand on Evelyn’s back. “I can still see you every Saturday. Maybe you can move back in later.”

“Fine. Okay,” said Evelyn flatly, flinging a camisole at her satchel, missing, and cursing under her breath. “Actually, you know what? It’s not okay. Just get out. Get out and stop pretending you care about me.” Evelyn’s voice was featureless but for its icy tone.

“Evelyn…”

“You know what? I was going to make this easy for you. I was going to fuck off to my little house in the middle of nowhere and pretend to be surprised when I called about next Saturday and you told me you just wanted to be friends from now on. But I have to know…” Evelyn flung a pair of slacks in the general direction of her satchel and turned to face Helen. “What was the plan? Were you going to just…” Evelyn waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “…keep me around like some kind of fuckable formerly villainous pet until you got tired of me?”

Helen felt a lead ball drop in her stomach. “You heard our whole conversation.”

“Maybe not the whole thing, but I heard enough. ‘Seduce the villainess.’ Is that some kind of game you and your husband like to play?” Evelyn shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. “God, I am living proof that IQ means nothing.” 

Helen wrapped one arm around Evelyn’s waist three times, pulling her close. Evelyn struggled. “Let go of me, you lying bitch!”

Helen let go. “I’m sorry. I was going to kiss you, seeing as how that usually works. Evelyn, I care about you. I want you to stay. The ‘seduce the villainess’ thing…I’m sorry. That was how Bob initially thought of my relationship with you. But that’s not how I feel.” 

Evelyn wiped her eyes with the back of a hand. “Why should I believe you?”

“Honey, why would I be trying to convince you that I care about you if it weren’t true? What would I gain by lying to you about that?”

Evelyn said nothing, only wrapped her arms around herself. Helen moved to embrace her and Evelyn rested her head against Helen’s shoulder, waiting a moment to return the hug. “Guess that’s a good reason to believe you,” she mumbled.

Helen kissed her hair. “Did you not hear me saying that I wanted you to stay because I felt like I was still taking care of you?”

“No. Didn’t catch that.” Evelyn let out a shuddering breath. “Couldn’t really hear anything at that point. It was like my heart was beating so hard that was all I could hear.”

“Come sit on the bed with me,” Helen murmured.

Helen sat on the bed with her legs crossed and Evelyn climbed into her lap; Helen hugged Evelyn tightly and kissed her hair. “So I kind of get that it’s too early for me to stay here when I’m not in crisis,” Evelyn began. “But…going forward…”

“I want us to be together,” Helen soothed. “I care about you, Evelyn.”

“Even though you’re married?” Evelyn sighed. “I’m okay with not being your first priority. That would…that would kind of be a lot if I were.”

“Well, I love Bob and also I want to be with you, so we’ll have to figure it out.” Helen took one of Evelyn’s hands between her two and began to massage the palm.

“Oh, a hand massage. Now you’re breaking out the big guns,” Evelyn mumbled.

Helen kissed Evelyn’s forehead. “I can still feel your heart pounding. I’m trying to help you relax.”

“Mmm…okay.”

Evelyn leaned her head against Helen’s shoulder, and Helen continued gently rubbing Evelyn’s hands.

“Helen?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.” Evelyn’s voice was barely audible.

Helen buried her face in Evelyn’s hair and was thinking about asking to kiss her when the door, which was already halfway open, swung open fully. “Oh—sorry,” came Bob’s voice. “I thought the door was open, so…”

Later, Helen would wonder if Evelyn was actually a super with some kind of speed ability, because one second she was half-asleep in Helen’s lap and the next she was sitting beside her on the bed, adjusting her hair. “Just a quick break from packing,” said Evelyn in a relaxed, neutral voice that almost Helen flinch; Evelyn hid her true feelings so easily it could be unnerving. “I’ll be out of here early tomorrow morning. Before the rest of you are up.”

“Wait.” Helen touched Evelyn’s shoulder. “ _You’re_ going to _drive_ without coffee?”

Evelyn shrugged. “I can pick up a red-eye somewhere. It’s fine.” She got up and resumed throwing things into her bag. “Just forget I’m here. I’ll be gone soon anyway.”

Helen sighed. “I’ll get the kettle going. I think several of us could use some tea.”

“Can you put some whiskey in mine?” asked Evelyn in a bitter, sarcastic voice; Helen couldn’t be sure whether or not she was kidding. She had a feeling Evelyn was serious.

“I’m going to answer that with ‘we don’t have whiskey,’” said Helen, getting off the bed. She walked to the kitchen and began setting up the kettle; Bob followed her.

“Helen?”

“Yes?” Helen rubbed her eyes, feeling exhausted all of a sudden.

Bob put an arm around his wife. “Are you coming upstairs later?”

Helen leaned into the embrace. “I don’t know. Maybe. Evelyn’s being distant and cranky, which means she’s hurting. I’m worried about her. I’m thinking of staying the night in the guest room so I can say goodbye when she leaves.”

“Yeah…okay, I could see why you’d want to do that,” said Bob hesitantly. “See you in the morning.”

“Yeah.” Helen kissed her husband good-night. “’Night, Bob. I love you.”

“Love you too, honey.”

Bob went upstairs and Helen finished making chamomile tea for herself and Evelyn. She carried the steaming mugs to Evelyn’s guest room, trying to ignore the heavy, roiling sensation burgeoning in her stomach. Evelyn had finished packing and was sitting cross-legged on the bed, a distant expression on her face.

“Hey, sweetie,” said Helen gently. “I brought you some tea. But I was telling the truth when I said we don’t have any whiskey.”

“Hey.” Evelyn’s voice sounded rusty. “Thanks.” She took the tea from Helen and sipped it, but there was a detached, mechanical quality to her movements.

“Evelyn? Are you with me?” Helen rested a hand on Evelyn’s knee and squeezed lightly. “Honey?”

“Don’t try to bring me back.” Evelyn closed her eyes. “It’s easier this way.” 

Helen felt a lump grow in her throat in addition to the one sitting uneasily in her stomach. “I’m going to stay with you tonight.”

“Okay. Fine. Sure.”

Evelyn drank her tea and lay down, curled into a ball. Helen moved close to Evelyn and slipped an arm around her, fitting her body to Evelyn’s like a shell. “Did you set an alarm?” Helen asked.

“Yeah. Not like I’ll sleep much.”

Helen touched soft kisses to Evelyn’s hair. “Do you want some more chamomile?” She paused. “We don’t have whiskey…we do have vodka, and gin. I don’t know if you like gin and tonic.”

“I’d drink mouthwash right about now, but I’d also rather you not let go of me,” Evelyn sighed.

Helen suppressed a shudder. “I won’t let go of you, then.”

By the time Helen fell asleep, she wasn’t sure if Evelyn was asleep or not, but she had turned around in Helen’s arms and returned her embrace. Helen didn’t sleep for long; she woke to the sound of stifled sobs and whimpers, and quickly realized that Evelyn was calling out in her sleep. “Evelyn?” Helen whispered, touching Evelyn’s face. Her skin was cold and clammy. “Evelyn? Honey?”

“No!” Evelyn’s eyes snapped open. “Stay away from me!”

Helen kept her distance, resisting the urge to take Evelyn in her arms. “Evelyn, you’re safe. It’s me. It’s Helen.”

Evelyn blinked and shook her head. “Helen?”

Helen hugged Evelyn close. “Were you having a nightmare?”

“About the hospital,” Evelyn whispered. “They were shocking me. They were showing me pictures of us together and shocking me.”

“You’re not in the hospital anymore,” Helen soothed. “You’re in my house.” The lump in her stomach was back. “You’re safe. Do you want some chamomile? Maybe with something stronger in it?”

“Yes,” Evelyn whispered.

Helen led Evelyn to the kitchen, keeping an arm around her; Evelyn made to attempt to control her shivering. Helen sat Evelyn down at the kitchen table, kissed her cheek, and slipped a hand into hers; Helen then proceeded to make tea one-handed while still holding Evelyn’s hand. After a brief hesitation, Helen added a small amount of vodka to Evelyn’s tea. “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Helen muttered to herself as she set the mug down in front of Evelyn. Evelyn appeared not to have heard her. “Here you go, honey.”

Heavy footsteps sounded from the stairs; Helen looked up, but Evelyn didn’t seem to have heard anything. “Bob?”

“Hey, honey,” Bob mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he walked into the kitchen. “I thought I heard the kettle.”

“Just making some tea for Evelyn. She had a nightmare.”

“Do you know what the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual is?” said Evelyn into the middle distance.

“No,” said Helen slowly, and Bob shook his head.

“I had to study psychology to figure out hypnosis. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual is a book written by some egghead psychiatrists who decide what conditions get covered by insurance. And what personality traits are diseases.” Evelyn took a long sip of her chamomile with vodka. “According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, and therefore mainstream psychology, homosexuality is a disease. In real life and in the nightmare I just had, there was a doctor trying to shock the gay out of me. Except in the nightmare, instead of showing me pictures of women in swimsuits, they were showing me pictures of me with…” Evelyn’s voice dissolved into a sob. “…with Helen…”

Helen sat down beside Evelyn and slipped an arm around her, offering Evelyn her other hand. “You’re safe, sweetie,” Helen murmured. “Squeeze my hand. Don’t worry about hurting me.”

Evelyn squeezed hard enough that Helen would have ordinarily used her powers to prevent bruising, but she knew Evelyn would need to feel something solid in her hand. “Now breathe. Deep breaths.” 

Evelyn drew deep, shaking breaths, and Helen leaned her forehead against Evelyn’s. “My name is Evelyn Deavor,” Evelyn whispered. “I am thirty-four years old. I was put through conversion therapy in Municiberg General Hospital, but I escaped with the help of my girlfriend Helen and her husband.”

Helen felt a pleasant warmth spread through her chest at the epithet Evelyn had chosen for her, but her heart sank almost immediately as she pictured herself leaving Evelyn at the door of her half-lab half-house in Lake Estates. Her stomach churned. “That’s right,” Helen murmured. “Tell me where you are.”

“1037 Thompkins Court in Municiberg. In the kitchen.”

“And you have tea. I even gave you some vodka. I figured you’d need it to sleep. And drinking it should help you come back. Why don’t you have a sip?”

Evelyn took another long drink. “Better,” she whispered.

Helen kissed Evelyn’s cheek. “Okay, that’s deep breathing, eating or drinking, and something you can touch. Can you come back to me now?”

Evelyn leaned her forehead against Helen’s. “I’m here. No more doctors or shocks.”

“No more doctors or shocks. Ever. I promise.”

“Thank you,” Evelyn sighed.

“Uh.” Bob cleared his throat. “Should I…go?”

“I don’t really care if my breakdown has an audience,” Evelyn sighed, leaning against Helen and sliding an arm around her waist. “But Helen went a little easy on the vodka, so if you could get more…”

“Ordinarily I’d say let’s not enable her,” said Helen, “but I think she’ll need it to sleep, and I also don’t think she’s going to let go of me.”

“You’re damn right I’m not going to let go of you,” Evelyn mumbled, tightening her grip on Helen.

Bob couldn’t think of anything to say, so he retrieved the vodka from the cabinet and added a small amount to Evelyn’s drink. Evelyn gave him a deadpan look and raised one eyebrow, and he added more.

“Thanks, honey,” said Helen. 

“Mm-hmm,” Evelyn mumbled into her now extremely alcoholic tea.

“You want to go back to your room, Evelyn, sweetie?”

Evelyn nodded. “Have to be up early tomorrow,” she rasped.

The ugly sensation in Helen’s stomach escalated to feeling as though she had been kicked. “You go ahead,” she said to Evelyn. “I’ll be right there.”

Evelyn shambled back to the guest room, shoulders hunched.

Helen covered her face. “Bob, this doesn’t feel right. Evelyn needs a strong support system. I can’t stand the thought of her…waking up alone from a nightmare about being restrained and shocked.”

“Can’t she stay with...” Bob’s tired brain floundered for the other Deavor sibling’s name. “Winston?” 

Helen sighed. “Winston loves Evelyn, and he’s a sweet guy, but he doesn’t know what it’s like to go through the kind of hell Evelyn did. Maybe I haven’t either, but I’ve seen my share of…of horrifying things doing super hero work.” She swallowed hard. “You know I have. We both have. I’m better equipped to take care of her, and she’s _not_ going back to the hospital that traumatized her.”

Bob looked in the direction of the guest room where Evelyn was staying. “Seeing you with her is...”

“I know,” Helen cut him off. “I’m sure it’s hard to see me care about Evelyn when I was initially trying to change her mind about supers. I know. But I’m not even talking about her as my girlfriend, even though she _is_ my girlfriend, and I want her to feel safe. I’m talking about her as someone who needs my help.”

Bob pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t…I can’t argue that she needs help.”

“Bob.” Helen took her husband’s arm. “The fact that I have Evelyn doesn’t mean that I love you or our family any less. And I can’t in good conscience take Evelyn back to an isolated place where she’ll be completely alone except for Saturday nights.”

“Can’t she get a cat?” said Bob lamely.

“ _Bob!_ ” Helen massaged her temples. “That’s not a bad idea, and I’ll talk to Evelyn about it later, but Evelyn is staying here. Maybe she can move in with Winston at some point, but she’s not ready.”

Bob let out a long sigh, his shoulders slumping. “You’re right. You’re right, honey.”

Helen flung her arms around her husband. “Thank you. I love you so much.”

Bob hugged Helen tightly enough that someone without her powers would have sustained bruises. “I love you too.”

“I’m going to go tell Evelyn,” said Helen quietly. “She’ll want to know she can sleep tomorrow.” Helen paused. “She’ll probably sleep all day.”

Bob took a deep breath. “Okay, honey.”

Helen walked into Evelyn’s guest room, where Evelyn was sitting up in bed, clutching her mug. “I heard you two arguing,” she whispered, then gave Helen a small, watery smile. “I wanted you to win.” She put the mug down and Helen climbed onto the bed, scooping Evelyn into her arms and wrapping her arms around both of them multiple times. “For the record, though, I like cats,” said Evelyn, her voice barely audible.

“I can’t sleep in your bed every night, but I want to be at least nearby when you have nightmares,” Helen soothed. “And Vi might still need help with her science project.”

Evelyn let out a sob that might have begun its life as a laugh. “You don’t have to.”

“Maybe I don’t have to.” Helen kissed Evelyn’s cheek. “But I want to.”

Evelyn drew a long, shuddering breath. “Is this the part where I say something romantic and sweet?”

“This is the part where we turn your alarm off so you can sleep as late as you need to tomorrow, and you fall asleep in my arms.”

“That sounds nice,” Evelyn breathed. “Especially the last part.”

Helen unwrapped one arm from Evelyn to turn off the alarm and the light, then lay down with Evelyn still holding Evelyn. “Do you think you can sleep now?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Evelyn mumbled. “You make me feel so good. So safe.”

“That’s right,” Helen soothed. “You’re safe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this was going to be the last chapter, and...well, it's going to be the last full-length chapter, and there will also be a short epilogue. And an alternate ending. And a series of ficlets that take place in this continuity.


	14. You Saved Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A resolution. Oh, and dinner.

Evelyn pulled her car into the driveway of the Parr-Deavor house, parked, and got out. She walked up to the front door, stifling a yawn; she had made quite a lot of progress that day, but, as she might have put it, thinking was tiring. The door opened as she was digging in her tote for her key, and Helen pulled her inside and kissed her.

Evelyn wrapped her arms around Helen. “Hello to you too,” she murmured between kisses. 

“Welcome home,” said Helen, leaning her forehead against Evelyn’s. “Your evening coffee is ready.”

“You are my goddess,” sighed Evelyn, and Helen laughed.

“Why do you always say that when I get you coffee?”

“I mean, I could say it more often…” Evelyn headed for the kitchen and was distracted by the sound of plastic hitting tile. “Ugh, there goes my ID again. I may just make like a college kid and wear it on a lanyard…damn thing keeps falling out of my tote.”

Helen picked up Evelyn’s fallen DevTech ID and studied it. “’Vivian Saint-Helens’? Your fake last name is ‘Saint-Helens’?”

“Yes,” said Evelyn, unfazed, holding her hand out for the plastic card; Helen handed it to her.

“Isn’t that a little on-the-nose?” Helen chuckled.

“It’s an improvement on ‘Screenslaver’,” Evelyn pointed out. “Now, I like your sister-in-law, but I’m about to have to deal with my brother’s inhuman ability to have energy after work, so I need coffee.”

“Okay, sweetie.” Helen brushed a hand down the side of Evelyn’s face. “I’ll sit with you. Actually…” Helen slipped an arm around her lover. “Why don’t we go to the living room?”

“Are you seriously proposing that we snuggle on the couch while I drink hot coffee?” Evelyn chuckled. “That doesn’t strike me as the best idea.”

“Okay, then finish your coffee, and _then_ we snuggle.”

Evelyn sipped her hot coffee as quickly as its temperature would allow, then followed Helen to the living room, where Helen scooped Evelyn into her lap. “Helen?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Can I massage your hands?”

“That’s kind of my job,” Helen teased, but Evelyn didn’t laugh.

“Yeah, it is. That’s the problem.” Evelyn nestled her face against the curve of Helen’s neck. “You’re always massaging my hands, and I love it, but I never do it for you.” She paused. “I guess…you’re my first relationship. I’m nervous that I’m a crappy girlfriend who just takes and doesn’t give.” She swallowed. “I’m just looking for…ease. Someone to take care of me.” Evelyn sighed. “And I wanted to keep supers illegal so people wouldn’t want to be dependent on them…I’m such a hypocrite.”

Helen chuckled grimly. “I’ve definitely felt like that.”

“So can I massage your hands?”

Helen smiled. “I’d like that.”

Evelyn took Helen’s hands in hers and kissed the fingertips on Helen’s right hand, then her left. “I’m probably not going to be as good at this as you. But I’ll try.”

“Sweetie…” Helen paused to collect her thoughts. “You’ve been through a lot. You don’t seem to ever have fully recovered from your parents’ deaths, you went through conversion therapy…”

“I put your family through a lot,” said Evelyn bluntly, her tone not in any way matching the careful actions of her hands as she rubbed circles on one of Helen’s palms. “I put you through a lot. Maybe you should just turn me in. Maybe being drugged up and shocked in a hospital for the rest of my life is what I deserve.”

“No, Evelyn, I don’t think so,” Helen murmured. “Seeing as you feel remorse…for most of it. And you’ve been through enough. Electric shocks are…well…”

“Cruel and unusual?” Evelyn offered. “Yeah, that sucked.” She kissed Helen’s knuckles. “But I did put your family through a lot. I mean…do you ever have nightmares? Do your kids? Does Bob?”

“Not as far as I know,” said Helen carefully.

“Would the kids tell you if they had a nightmare about your girlfriend?” said Evelyn pointedly.

“I think they might.” Helen took a deep breath. “Sometimes Vi has nightmares about Nomanisan.”

“Noma-what now? Oh, right…Syndrome’s island.” Evelyn thought about that. “Huh. That’s not a bad pun.”

“Did you send your apology letters today?” Helen asked softly.

“Yeah.” Evelyn planted a kiss on Helen’s left palm. “Finally.” Her voice was hoarse and strained.

“Karen will probably just hug you the next time we see her at Kit’s.”

“Probably.” Evelyn pressed one of Helen’s hands to her cheek.

Helen leaned down and touched a small kiss to her lover’s mouth. “You’re good at hand massages.”

“Probably not as good as you.”

Helen sifted a hand through Evelyn’s hair, which was coming out of its loose braid. “You’re also a good kisser.”

“So are you.”

Helen leaned down and kissed Evelyn warmly; Evelyn wrapped her arms around Helen and enthusiastically returned her kisses. “How long are we alone for?” Evelyn whispered between kisses.

Helen rested her forehead against Evelyn’s. “We’re not entirely alone—Jack-Jack’s asleep upstairs—and Bob should be back with Dash and Vi in half an hour. Kit and Win will get here about fifteen minutes after that.”

Evelyn nuzzled Helen’s throat, leaving a kiss at the place where her neck rounded into her shoulder. “So…do you have to start making dinner?”

“Not right away,” said Helen silkily, sliding one hand along Evelyn’s thigh.

Evelyn opened her mouth to suggest that they go to her guest room, but was interrupted by a loud, angry, hungry meow. “Oh, dammit, Marconi!”

Helen sat up, laughing. “I still don’t know how you tell the difference between their voices.”

“Gig has a grittier and slightly deeper voice,” Evelyn grumbled; Helen could barely hear her over Evelyn’s gray and white cat, Marconi, who was meowing with increasing volume and insistence. “Okay, okay, Marc! Mama will feed you. Even though she’s going to be very cranky now.” Evelyn got up laboriously and walked to the kitchen, where the cats’ wet food was stored in the pantry; Helen followed her. “Gig!” Evelyn called. “Dinner!”

A black and white blur flew past Helen’s feet at a speed that would have impressed Dash, and Gigahertz the cat began loudly announcing that he, too, was very, very hungry. “Remind me why you didn’t name Gigahertz ‘Decibel’ or ‘Bell’,” said Helen, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the feline chorus.

“Alexander Graham Bell was a cocksucker,” said Evelyn, portioning out a small can of food for each of her complaining cats. “He thought deaf people didn’t deserve to exist.”

Helen’s eyebrows went up. “Wow.”

“Yeah, like I said. Cocksucker.” Evelyn set two plates of cat food down on the floor and the meows subsided, replaced by loud chewing and slurping noises. “Now try not to steal each others’ food too much, okay?”

Helen slipped an arm around Evelyn and kissed her cheek. “Sorry we got interrupted.”

“He should be sorry.” Evelyn jerked her head in the direction of Marconi, who was now eating from his brother’s plate. 

“I probably should start on dinner, but…” Helen gripped Evelyn’s hips possessively and pulled her close. “I’m staying with you tonight.”

“Sounds good to me,” Evelyn whispered, draping her arms around Helen’s neck and leaning in to kiss her. Their lips had barely met when the front door opened. Evelyn flinched at the sound, and Helen’s brow knit; Evelyn still was prone to anxiety when they were interrupted doing anything even remotely intimate.

“It’s okay,” Helen soothed, dropping a quick kiss on Evelyn’s cheek.

“Right,” Evelyn muttered, still visibly tense. 

“MOM!” came Violet’s voice from the entryway. “We won! Tony and I won the science fair!”

Helen and Evelyn rushed into the entryway where Helen was immediately ambushed with a tight hug from Violet. “I’m so proud of you, honey!”

“We both are,” Bob added, grinning ear to ear.

Violet stepped back from her mother’s embrace, revealing a large blue ribbon pinned to her shirt. “Oh, and, uh…thanks for your help, Evelyn. Ms. DaSilva was really impressed that we cited _Nature_.”

“You’re welcome, but I’m sure you had to do plenty of good work yourself to earn that ribbon,” said Evelyn.

Violet blinked, as if surprised by the compliment, but recovered quickly. “Thanks.”

“What do you say we go out for ice cream after dinner? To celebrate?” Helen asked.

“Ice cream?” Dash repeated. “Yeah!”

“Okay,” said Violet.

Evelyn twisted her hands. “So am I staying home from that?”

“Absolutely not.” Helen wrapped an arm around Evelyn’s shoulders.

“You helped Vi with the project; of course you should come with us,” said Bob, and Evelyn couldn’t help but smile.

Winston arrived half an hour later, and Kit arrived ten minutes after that; by then, Helen had finished cooking dinner, including demonstrating how to boil water for Evelyn. Marconi and Gigahertz insisted upon greeting the guests, and Bob had to practically drag his sister away from cooing over the cats to come to the table before dinner got cold. Dash and Violet set the table, and Helen served the food, sat down between Bob and Evelyn, and leaned over to kiss Bob’s cheek as she gave Evelyn’s knee a quick squeeze under the table. Evelyn coughed and tried to hide her blush.

“So, Vi has some good news,” Helen began. “Vi, you want to share?”

“Oh…yeah. Sure.” Violet cleared her throat. “I entered a science fair with a boy from school and we got first place.”

“Well, that’s great, Violet!” said Winston enthusiastically, and Kit, who was sitting next to Violet, gave her a high five. At some prompting from Winston, Violet described her project, was interrupted by Dash saying he hoped that he was still having a little trouble believing he would ever like Brussels sprouts, and credited Evelyn for helping.

“That was so nice of you to help Violet, Evelyn,” said Winston warmly, and Evelyn rolled her eyes.

“Hey, I’m glad I’d have ended up in the acknowledgements section of Vi’s paper, but she did a lot of the work herself,” Evelyn pointed out. “Oh, and Vi, I hope that boy you worked with actually pulled his weight and didn’t just take credit.”

Violet blushed slightly. “Yeah, he did his share.”

Satisfied, Evelyn went back to her meal.

“Your partner was a boy, huh?” Winston’s eyebrows went up. “So…”

Kit interrupted. “Please don’t say something heteronormative.”

“Yeah, Win, don’t be heteronormative,” Evelyn teased, and at her brother’s baffled expression, she sighed and said “I’ll explain later. But your sister’s gay; you should know terms.”

“We decided to go out for ice cream to celebrate Vi’s science fair win, and everyone present is invited,” Helen announced almost too loudly and quickly, and both Bob and Evelyn could tell she was trying not to laugh.

“Is my brother buying?” Kit teased.

“Win, don’t,” Evelyn cautioned, pointing a fork at her brother. “I know you’re going to offer, and don’t. Bob and Helen are too polite to accept, and you’re too polite to back down, so we should just avoid that conversation altogether because _I’m_ buying.”

“Evelyn, honey, you don’t have to—“ Helen began, and Evelyn cut her off.

“Helen, no stupid social niceties. I’m buying, so don’t argue.” Evelyn stuffed more broccoli into her mouth to hide her burgeoning smile.

“You heard her, honey,” Bob chuckled.

“Helen, I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but listen to your husband,” said Evelyn, and Kit snorted with laughter.

“You should talk more at the group. Your wit is razor sharp,” Kit chuckled.

“I’m working the whole…talking more thing,” said Evelyn with a lopsided smile, and Helen gave her shoulder a backhanded caress. 

“I’m done. I even ate my broccoli. Can we get ice cream now?” Dash pressed.

“Wait for everyone else to finish their broccoli too,” said Helen, but Jack-Jack had overheard the word “ice cream.”

“I-keem?” Jack-Jack repeated. “I-keem!” He began to beat his tiny fists on the tray of his high chair. “I-keem!”

“Are we about to see the demon baby?” Evelyn asked hesitantly.

“Okay! Time for ice cream!” said Bob loudly, getting up, and everyone else at the table followed suit. Bob scooped Jack-Jack out of his high chair before he could begin fussing as Helen, Evelyn, Violet, Dash, Kit, and Winston headed to the hall closet for their coats, having witness or been apprised of Jack-Jack’s ability to turn into a demon-like creature.

“Hey,” said Helen softly to Evelyn as both women shrugged on their jackets. “Are you going to be okay being in public with the rest of the family?”

Evelyn blushed slightly at Helen’s choice of words. “I think so.” She took a deep breath. “Would it, uh. Would it be okay if we held hands?”

“Only if you feel safe,” said Helen gently.

Bob walked into the hallway, carrying Jack-Jack with one of his massive arms. “Okay, time to go. Operation Avoid Demon Jack-Jack With Ice Cream is a go.”

“I think you may need to work on your operation titles,” Evelyn cracked, her voice holding a nervous quaver that only Helen could pick up on. Helen chuckled, sidling in between her lover and her husband. She took Bob’s free hand, and slipped her other hand onto one of Evelyn’s shaking, sweat-damp ones. She gave Evelyn’s hand a brief, reassuring squeeze, and after a split second, Evelyn squeezed back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so glad this fic is done. I was getting so tired of it, but I hope the readers enjoyed.


End file.
